More than 100 universities are working on the next-generation Internet as an alternative to today's congested and outdated network.

Since the introduction of IPv6, the next-generation Internet Protocol, previous practices are being modified and extra space is filled with IPv6 name servers.

Officials at the center say the technology could help drive the creation of the next-generation Internet.

And it has touched off an intense lobbying effort pitting cellular companies against a variety of new players interested in the potential of a next-generation mobile Internet.

In some ways, the scientists who are breaking in the next-generation Internet see themselves as beta testers, people who test prototypes of computer software and operating systems.

In fact I know at Stanford there's a working group working on the next-generation Internet.

By involving corporations in early work on the next-generation Internet, Mr. Van Houweling hopes to speed its commercialization and use.

And because Microsoft's software is used on most personal computers, it could bring the next-generation Internet to millions of desktops quickly, perhaps within five years.

The next-generation Internet can be thought of as the beginning of what researchers have said might be possible with software agents, or bots, performing as human assistants.

In 1996 Patrick helped form Internet 2, a consortium of over 320 research universities and companies created to build a next-generation Internet.