A strong networking capability has become a vital ingredient in maintaining and increasing scientific, commercial and military leadership. Industry Canada has an important role to play in supporting the migration to a knowledge-based society and a more agile economy (e.g., e-commerce). The Department of National Defence must ensure information superiority while at the same time reduce the vulnerability of information systems and protect the national communications infrastructure.

The CRC Network Systems Group carries out R&D activities in response to the needs of government and industry, and contributes its research results, expertise and facilities to both national and international R&D fora. The R&D program focuses on the development of the technologies and network services needed to stay at the forefront and exploit the benefits of the information revolution. Modeling and simulation and analytical techniques as well as experimental implementations and field trials are used. R&D prototypes, developed for experimentation and used for demonstrations, are available for technology transfer to industry.

The CRC Network Systems Group is making significant contributions nationally and internationally that will help shape future communications services and the global Internet. Industry Canada and National Defence rely on CRC's technical expertise to help grow and maintain Canada's national infrastructure and Canada's position as a world leader in telecommunications.

The Networking R&D program has three primary research themes:

• RF Networks
• Network Architectures and Infrastructure
• Next Generation Internet Services and Applications

Research is supported by extensive, leading-edge laboratory facilities for prototyping, experimentation and field trials.