October 2020 Vol. 18 No. 10

View from the Top

• Masaaki Moribayashi, Senior Executive Vice President, NTT Ltd.

  

  Overview
  As a world-leading global technology services provider, NTT Ltd., which is headquartered in London, UK, employs approximately 40,000 people in more than 70 countries and territories. While the global economy is being affected by the novel-coronavirus pandemic, the company is using technology to make a positive impact on business and society. Since the establishment of NTT Ltd. in July 2019, the company has been recognized for its contributions by, for example, being named as a leader in IDC MarketScape: Asia/Pacific Managed Security Services Vendor Assessment in March 2020 and receiving two Cisco^® Partner Summit Global Awards in November 2019. We asked its senior executive vice president, Masaaki Moribayashi, about the company’s business strategy and workplace culture that emphasizes diversity.

Front-line Researchers

• Hirokazu Kameoka, Senior Distinguished Researcher, NTT Communication Science Laboratories

  

  Overview
  According to a survey on clumsiness while speaking of about 1800 undergraduate and graduate students of Japanese universities, approximately 30% answered that they have, or have to some extent, a problem with their pronunciation in everyday conversation, and those who were aware of the difficulty in pronunciation tended to feel that they are often asked to repeat what they said. Hirokazu Kameoka, a senior distinguished researcher at NTT Communication Science Laboratories, aims to eliminate various obstacles in communication by analyzing, synthesizing, and converting voices and speaking styles. We asked him about his current research and his attitude as a researcher.

Feature Articles: Photonics-electronics Convergence Technology to Achieve All-Photonics Network

• All-Photonics Network and Photonics-electronics Convergence Technologies as a Vision of the Future

  

  Abstract
  This article presents the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) proposed by NTT and the All-Photonics Network—a key element of IOWN—as a vision of the future along with the technologies for achieving it. It also introduces photonics-electronics convergence technologies as the key to achieving an ultralow-latency and ultralow-power consumption of the All-Photonics Network and its roadmap.

• Ultracompact Silicon Photonics Coherent Optical Subassembly for Ultrahigh-capacity Optical Communication

  

  Abstract
  Toward the All-Photonics Network, which is a key element of the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN), we at NTT Device Innovation Center are developing an ultracompact optical transceiver module as a photonics-electronics convergence device. By using silicon photonics technology and co-packaging electronic devices, we fabricated an ultracompact coherent optical module for next high-capacity optical networks.

• Device Technology for Short-range Optical Interconnections with High Density and Low Power Consumption

  

  Abstract
  Optical interconnections, which apply optical technology to short-range communications on printed circuit boards in datacenters, are being studied for faster information processing infrastructure and lower power consumption. In this article, we introduce membrane-type directly modulated lasers on silicon (Si) substrates. These lasers can be integrated with Si photonic devices and driven by complementary metal oxide semiconductor-based drivers with low power consumption.

• Nanophotonic Technologies toward Opto-electronic Integrated Accelerators

  

  Abstract
  The opto-electronic integration technology being researched at the NTT Nanophotonics Center is for creating a photonic computing platform with low latency and low energy consumption. The development of miniature optical functional devices through nanophotonics along with advances in large-scale optical-circuit fabrication technology will make diverse types of photonic-information processing possible. This article introduces the technologies that we are researching for optical pass-gate circuits, opto-electronic converters, and optical nonlinear devices and presents the path to opto-electronic integrated accelerators that the combined use of these technologies will make possible.

Regular Articles

• Ultralow Latency Optical Logic Operations with an Ultrasmall Silicon Wire Ψ Gate

  

  Abstract
  Electronic computation circuits are composed of logic gates. However, due to the exponential increase in wiring resistance of miniaturized electronic components, both the increase in latency and energy consumption is becoming a serious problem. To overcome the electronic bottleneck, we developed an ultrasmall silicon-wire multimode interferometer called a Ψ (psi) gate for low-loss and high-speed optical logic operation. With a single Ψ gate, we can carry out Boolean logic operations (OR, XOR, AND, XNOR, NOR, and NAND) in telecom wavelength (1535–1565 nm) with an ultralow latency of ~30 fs. Such gates are expected to be used in novel photonics-electronics convergence processors for ultralow latency pattern matching and vector operations for photonic neural network applications.

• Wearable Biological/environmental Sensor and Its Application for Smart Healthcare Services

  

  Abstract
  Smart healthcare services using wearable biological sensors are gaining interest regarding healthy living and safe working conditions. NTT and Toray Industries, Inc. have developed a smart textile called hitoe^TM, which enables the measurement of biological information, such as heart rate and cardiac potential, by just wearing a shirt with hitoe electrodes. This article introduces a new sensor, which is used in combination with hitoe, that is small, has low power consumption, and enables multi-sensing of biological and environmental information. Its application for physical condition management of workers in hot environments is also introduced.

Global Standardization Activities

• Recent Activities of QoE-related Standardization in ITU-T SG12

  

  Abstract
  This article introduces recent standardization activities related to the evaluation of the quality of experience (QoE) of speech and video services, focusing on the activities of ITU-T SG12 (International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector, Study Group 12), which is responsible for standardization work on performance, quality of service, and QoE.

Practical Field Information about Telecommunication Technologies

• Quick and Automatic Solution of Electromagnetic Disturbance by Using the Intelligent Noise Filter

  

  Abstract
  This article introduces the intelligent noise filter developed by Technical Assistance and Support Center, NTT EAST. The intelligent noise filter can quickly and easily suppress an electromagnetic disturbance that may cause problems in telecommunication networks. This is the sixtieth article in a series on telecommunication technologies.

External Awards/Papers Published in Technical Journals and Conference Proceedings

• External Awards/Papers Published in Technical Journals and Conference Proceedings