IBM has entered an alliance with Shanghai's Jiaotong University to establish a networking centre based on ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) technology.
The project includes building an ATM local area network at the university, which will be connected to the China Education and Research Network (CERNET), one of 10 regional nodes that makes up the nationwide academic network.
The Jiaotong University network represented IBM's first ATM installation that included its LES technology (local area network emulation server).
IBM's Greater China Group director of education K.S. Ip said the company would work with Jiaotong University to develop pilot academic and information programmes based on the new network, to serve as models for the development of similar environments at other Chinese academic institutions.
'We are glad to see that China's education industry adopts more and more leading edge technologies like ATM to enhance China's modernisation drive,' Mr Ip said.