February 2015 Vol. 13 No. 2

View from the Top

• Kazuhiro Yoshizawa, Senior Executive Vice President, NTT DOCOMO

  

  Overview
  Today, feature phones and smartphones have become indispensable in our daily lives, and users are looking for even more convenient mobile devices that provide a greater sense of beneficial value. At the same time, the convergence of mobile and fixed communications has the potential to bring dramatic changes to the way that we communicate with others. We asked Kazuhiro Yoshizawa, NTT DOCOMO Senior Executive Vice President, to tell us about the types of mobile-fixed services that NTT DOCOMO plans to provide and the company’s approach to innovation as a foundation of service creation.

Feature Articles: R&D Efforts in Cloud Computing Platform Technologies through Open Innovation

• Cloud Computing Platform Technology Initiatives at NTT Laboratories

  

  Abstract
  To realize flexible, agile, low-cost, and safe and secure cloud services, NTT laboratories are involved in various research and development (R&D) initiatives in cloud computing platform technologies through open innovation. This article explains the approach of these R&D initiatives for implementing the NTT laboratories’ cloud computing vision, and also gives an overview of our current work on cloud controller and virtualization technologies.

• PaaS Platform Based on Cloud Foundry

  

  Abstract
  The NTT Software Innovation Center is working on the development and commercialization of Cloud Foundry, which is open source PaaS (Platform as a Service) platform software. This article introduces the latest trends with Cloud Foundry and our activities related to its expansion to cloud businesses.

• OpenStack Activities

  

  Abstract
  In the three years since the founding of OpenStack, numerous companies have joined the community, an ecosystem has been established, and the commercial use of OpenStack has grown. This article describes recent developments in OpenStack, public-cloud and private-cloud efforts at NTT laboratories, research and development of hybrid clouds at NTT Innovation Institute, Inc. (NTT I³), and NTT activities in the OpenStack community.

• R&D Efforts in Storage Virtualization Technology

  

  Abstract
  The NTT Software Innovation Center is active in the research and development (R&D) of storage virtualization technologies. This article introduces its R&D of Sheepdog, a distributed block storage system that can be used from any file system, and OpenStack Swift, a robust distributed object storage system featuring high operability.

Regular Articles

• Wireless Access Point Placement Design Support Tool for Small- and Medium-sized Offices

  

  Abstract
  We have developed a tool that enables the simple design and construction of a wireless local area network (LAN) for small- and medium-sized offices of smaller enterprises. The tool has a function to simulate wireless propagation based on the configuration of the office floor, as well as a function to automatically calculate output strengths and channels from the environment deduced by signals from adjacent wireless access points. This makes it possible for people who are not wireless LAN experts to carry out the design and construction work. This is expected to shorten the work process from 12 hours to 3 hours compared with the previous design and construction process.

Global Standardization Activities

• ITU-T SG16 Sapporo Meeting Report

  

  Abstract
  The International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector Study Group 16 (ITU-T SG16) met from June 30 to July 11, 2014 at the Sapporo Convention Center, Hokkaido, Japan. We report on the results of the SG16 Sapporo meeting and describe some side events held in conjunction with the meeting.

Practical Field Information about Telecommunication Technologies

• Recent Case Studies of Packet Capture and Analysis―Use of Captured-data Analysis Support Tool―

  

  Abstract
  This article introduces case studies involving packet capture and analysis using a support tool. This is the twenty-seventh of a bimonthly series on the theme of practical field information on telecommunication technologies. This month’s contribution is from the Network Interface Engineering Group, Technical Assistance and Support Center, Maintenance and Service Operations Department, Network Business Headquarters, NTT EAST.

External Awards/Papers Published in Technical Journals and Conference Proceedings

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