The AKARI Architecture Design Project was a project for designing a new generation computer network architecture supported by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) of Japan. The name "AKARI" indicates "A small light in the dark pointing to the future" [1] and it comes from the Japanese word Akari, which means "a small light". [2] Launched in May 2006, the AKARI Project investigated technologies for new generation network by 2015, developing a network architecture and creating a network design based on that architecture. AKARI is also denoted as a Future Internet project.
A computer network is a digital telecommunications network which allows nodes to share resources. In computer networks, computing devices exchange data with each other using connections between nodes. These data links are established over cable media such as wires or optic cables, or wireless media such as Wi-Fi.
The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology is Japan's primary national research institute for information and communications. It is located at 4-2-1 Nukui-Kitamachi, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8795, Japan.
Future Internet is a general term for research activities on new architectures for the Internet.
The members of the AKARI Project came from NICT and some other universities or companies such as Tokyo University, Keio University, Osaka University, Tokyo Institute of Technology and NTT. In 2008, they produced a conceptual design book, which describes their philosophy to pursue an ideal solution by researching new network architectures from a clean slate without being impeded by existing constraints. [1]
Keio University, abbreviated as Keio (慶應) or Keidai (慶大), is a private university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the oldest institute of modern higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa. It has ten faculties: Letters, Economics, Law, Business and Commerce, Medicine, Science and Technology, Policy Management, Environment and Information Studies, Nursing and Medical Care, and Pharmacy.
Osaka University, or Handai, is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Osaka University is one of Japan's National Seven Universities and is generally considered one of Japan's most prestigious institutions of higher learning. It is usually ranked among the top three public universities in Japan, along with the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University. It is ranked third overall among Japanese universities and 71st worldwide in the 2020 QS World University Rankings.
Tokyo Institute of Technology is a national research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology, and is generally considered to be one of the most prestigious universities in Japan.
To some extent, the AKARI Project was similar to the Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) facility of USA and many of the Seventh Framework Programmes (FP7) of EU such as the Future Internet Research and Experimentation.
The Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) is a facility concept being explored by the United States computing community with support from the National Science Foundation. The goal of GENI is to enhance experimental research in computer networking and distributed systems, and to accelerate the transition of this research into products and services that will improve the economic competitiveness of the United States.
Future Internet Research and Experimentation (FIRE) is a program funded by the European Union to do research on the Internet, its prospects, and its future, a field known as "future Internet".
Conferences were held in June 2007, January 2008, June 2008, and June 2010. [3] The project updated a web site through 2011, and removed the site by 2013. [2]
