Virtual laboratory for fusion research in Japan

A virtual laboratory system for nuclear fusion research in Japan has been developed using SuperSINET, which is a super high-speed network operated by National Institute of Informatics. Sixteen sites including major Japanese universities, Japan Atomic Energy Agency and National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) are mutually connected to SuperSINET with the speed of 1 Gbps by the end of 2006 fiscal year. Collaboration categories in this virtual laboratory are as follows: the large helical device (LHD) remote participation; the remote use of supercomputer system; and the all Japan ST (Spherical Tokamak) research program. This virtual laboratory is a closed network system, and is connected to the Internet through the NIFS firewall in order to keep higher security. Collaborators in a remote station can control their diagnostic devices at LHD and analyze the LHD data as they were at the LHD control room. Researchers in a remote station can use the supercomputer of NIFS in the same environment as NIFS.In this paper, we will describe detail of technologies and the present status of the virtual laboratory. Furthermore, the items that should be developed in the near future are also described.