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Global Standardization Activities

Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 26–29, Feb. 2025. https://doi.org/10.53829/ntr202502gls

Report on ITU-T SG13 Meeting Discussing Future Networks and Emerging Network Technologies

Hiroshi Yamamoto and Hayato Fukuzono

Abstract

The meeting of the International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Study Group (SG) 13, discussing future networks and emerging network technologies, was held in Geneva, Switzerland in July 2024. The partner organizations and NTT proposed a new work item for developing a new Recommendation “Framework of low-latency and energy-efficient communications in integrated networking” as a high-level architecture for IOWN (the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network), and the proposal was approved. This article provides an overview of the ITU-T SG13 meeting and explains our proposal of the new work item.

Keywords: ITU-T SG13, Q22, IOWN

1. ITU-T SG13 meeting in July 2024, Geneva

The International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Study Group (SG) 13 meeting was held in Geneva, Switzerland from July 15 to 26, 2024. From Japan, nine members including the head of delegation Sho Nabatame (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) and Hiroshi Yamamoto (NTT), and the delegations Michiaki Hayashi (KDDI), Takuya Kato (KDDI), Kazunori Tanikawa (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), SG13 chair), Kaoru Kenyoshi (NICT), Ved P. Kafle (NICT), Junko Iwasaki (NEC), and Yoshinori Goto (NTT) attended the meeting. In total, 339 participants (of which 135 were on-site) attended this meeting, 299 contributions were proposed, and 35 new recommendations and 6 revisions to existing recommendations were consented.

This meeting also discussed the agenda for the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) held in October 2024. A technical session to introduce activities of the IOWN Global Forum (IOWN GF) was also held at lunchtime on the second day. Even though it was lunchtime, many delegates joined the session.

Currently, ITU-T SG13 has 13 research topics, called questions (Qs). The authors mainly attended the discussion of Q22, “Networks beyond IMT2020: Emerging network technologies,” at which the high-level architecture of the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) was discussed. This article explains Q22 in detail.

2. Q22 “Networks beyond IMT2020: Emerging network technologies”

Table 1 shows the management team of Q22, ITU-T SG13. The rapporteur is Ved P. Kafle (NICT) from Japan, and the associate rapporteur is Jie Zhang from China. This meeting produced 15 output documents. Table 2 lists the output documents related to Q22. This article focuses on the output document SG13-TD927-R1/WP1 proposed by the partner companies and NTT.

Table 1. Management team of ITU-T SG13 Q22.

Table 2. List of output documents from Q22 of this ITU-T SG13 meeting.

3. Discussions of the high-level architecture of IOWN in Q22

The seven companies, i.e., KDDI, OKI, Sumitomo Electric, Sony, Fujitsu, NEC, and NTT, proposed to start the discussion of a framework that will achieve low latency and high energy efficiency in integrated networking for the de jure standardization of IOWN. Figure 1 shows integrated networking with the interconnection of various network domains and end-to-end connections.

Fig. 1. Framework of integrated networking with low latency and high energy efficiency.

The high-level requirements of this integrated networking will incorporate use cases such as artificial intelligence (AI) described in ITU-T F.748, Y.3142, Y.3090, immersive live experiences described in ITU-T H.430, and digital twins. The requirements may also cover loss-less connectivity, topological flexibility, lifetime of connection, instantiation agility, multi-domain interworking, operation, administration and maintenance, and interwork with existing networks.

This proposal received comments such as 1) concerns about the overlapping scope with SG5 and SG15; 2) we should consider this for a technical report rather than a recommendation; and 3) we should change the title of the work item. Through these discussions, the stakeholders ultimately reached an agreement.

4. Future plans

We will resume the discussion for this proposal in the interim meeting in December 2024 and the meeting in March 2025. The recommendation is scheduled to be consented in the SG13 meeting in the first half of 2026.

5. Conclusion

ITU-T SG13, where the NGN (Next Generation Network) standardization had been discussed before, currently deals with guidelines of future network designs, slicing, AI/machine learning, quantum key distribution networks, etc. The SG has started the discussion of future networking to meet the requirements of high energy efficiency and low latency as a high-level architecture for IOWN. The partner companies and NTT will continue to promote standardization activities toward the de jure standardization of IOWN.

Hiroshi Yamamoto: Director, Head of Standardization Office, R&D Planning Department, NTT Corporation.
He received a B.S. and M.S. in information and computer science from Waseda University, Tokyo, in 1999 and 2001. In 2001, he joined NTT Corporation, where he has been involved in research and development (R&D) in communications quality and traffic and network architecture, as well as in international standardization activities. Since 2015, he has served as the company’s primary U.S.A. liaison, representing the company in various U.S.-based standardization organizations, such as Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), Broadband Forum, MEF, and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), as well as open source software organizations such as the Linux Foundation, and contributing to the widespread dissemination of the company’s R&D results worldwide. He has also been active and contributed to research funding, such as obtaining R&D funds in the quantum field from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In 2023, he was appointed the director, head of the Standardization Office, which oversees entire NTT Group standardization planning and activities, and has been involved in the overall management of the group’s international standardization activities. He has also served in various international standardization roles both in Japan and overseas, including chair of Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) WTSA WG1, member of the Japan Industrial Standards Committee (JISC) Electronics Technical Committee and Information Technology Technical Committee, member of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) High Level Correspondence Committee and Market Strategy Board (MSB) Correspondence Committee, chair of the Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC) IOWN GF Technical Committee, and leader of the International Cooperation Advisory Group.

Hayato Fukuzono: Senior Manager, Standardization Office, R&D Planning Department, NTT Corporation.
He received a B.E., M.Info., and Ph.D. in informatics from Kyoto University in 2007, 2009, and 2016. Since joining NTT Corporation in 2009, he has been engaged in R&D of next-generation wireless LAN systems, 6G wireless systems, etc. He is currently a senior manager of Standardization Office and oversees the NTT Group’s standardization activities. He received the Young Engineer Award from the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE) in 2013, the IEICE Technical Committee on Radio Communication Systems (RCS) Active Research Award in 2013, the IEICE KIYASU-Zen’iti Award in 2015, the IEICE Best Paper Award in 2015, the IEICE Communication Society: Distinguished Contributions Award in 2016, 2018. 2021, the IEICE Technical Committee on Antennas and Propagation: Excellent Paper Award in 2016, the 33rd Radio Achievement Award of the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB) in 2022, and the IEICE Communication Society: Best Paper Award in 2024. He is a member of IEEE.

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