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December 2020 Vol. 18 No. 12 |
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View from the Top
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 Hidemune Sugahara, Senior Executive Vice President, NTT Communications
Overview
Digital transformation is accelerating in a society that has changed dramatically due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. NTT Communications, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, has reorganized with the aim of providing a safe and secure platform for data utilization to customers around the world. The company is striving to contribute to building a data-driven society on the basis of the concept called 3S (simple, smart, speedy) + S (secure) while developing technology and systems to implement the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN). We asked Hidemune Sugahara, senior executive vice president of NTT Communications, about his enthusiasm and philosophy as a member of senior management.
Front-line Researchers
- Hideki Yamamoto, Senior Distinguished Researcher, NTT Basic Research Laboratories
Overview
Hideki Yamamoto, Senior Distinguished Researcher at NTT Basic Research Laboratories, and his co-researchers are creating novel materials nonexistent in the natural world and elucidating the property of such materials. They apply NTT’s unique and state-of-the-art apparatus and technologies to stack the elements making up a material through control of their reaction at the atomic and molecular levels. We asked Dr. Yamamoto about his current research activities and the mindset he adopts as a researcher.
Feature Articles: Global Business Initiatives
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 NTT’s Global Business Initiatives
Abstract
The NTT Group positioned its global business as one of its pillars of growth in the NTT Medium-Term Management Strategy announced in 2018, and in FY 2019 revenue grew to US$19.5 billion. After active pursuit of international mergers and acquisitions, approximately one-fourth of the NTT Group’s workforce (135,000 people) now works outside Japan, and the global business has grown in importance. The NTT Group’s strength lies in its ability to offer full stack support for customer business transformation through the global collaboration of operating companies. This full stack support encompasses everything from networks, datacenters, hybrid clouds, and other information technology infrastructure to management services and business applications.
- A New Training System Using VR Will Rev Up the Baseball Industry Like Never Before
Abstract
By accurately reproducing various pitches of actual pitchers in virtual space and visualizing the movements of athletes using a sensing function, the baseball-simulation system that we provide achieves more efficient and effective training for athletes. This system also provides baseball fans with a new means of enjoying the sport by enabling them to stand―in virtual space―in the batter’s box and play against the pitching of a real pitcher. This system represents a new initiative that has never been available before, and it is generating interest within the industry.
- Navigating Today’s Computing Model Landscape
Abstract
We are witnessing a shift in the computing model landscape. We are increasingly seeing enterprises move away from on-premise hardware deployments while seeing growth in cloud and hyperscale providers. Enterprises are now dealing with a hybrid computing environment encompassing four different computing architectures and multiple cloud-deployment services. This article recaps a recent review by the Innovation and Technology group at NTT Ltd. on the shift in the computing model landscape and the four main computing architectures being deployed within enterprise environments today. This article also covers where NTT Ltd. have helped clients navigate the decision-making process around deploying the various computing models and finally touches on our focus around providing high-value services to continue enabling and supporting clients with their hybrid computing challenges.
- NTT Pro Cycling: Data-driven Innovation in Action
Abstract
With thousands of riders and hundreds of races to choose from each year, the NTT Pro Cycling team uses data and advanced analytics to optimize their performance by ensuring they recruit the best possible riders for their budget and for selected races. Training is then optimized for every individual rider to ensure they are in peak condition for their target races, giving them the best chance to maximize UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) points. NTT Ltd. supports the team through innovative technology that monitors and manages the performance of the riders. We also use advanced data analytics and data science to help the team make key decisions. Working together within a support ecosystem, we give the team every possible advantage to be a high-performing pro sports team, both on and off the bike.
Feature Articles: Media-processing Technologies for Artificial Intelligence to Support and Substitute Human Activities
- Researching AI Technologies to Support and Substitute Human Activities
Abstract
The coming of digital transformation has been gaining interest, and its development seems to be accelerating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Competition in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is also intensifying, and platformers are accumulating massive amounts of data as learning data. Amid these trends, NTT Media Intelligence Laboratories is promoting the research and development (R&D) of AI technologies to support and substitute human activities by taking advantage of the technologies and expertise that it has cultivated. This article introduces this R&D initiative.
- Media-processing Technologies for Ultimate Private Sound Space
Abstract
NTT Media Intelligence Laboratories has been researching and developing media-processing technologies to create ultimate private spaces for promoting digital transformation in diverse spaces, including work-style reform. This article focuses on sound, which is one of the most important elements in achieving private space and introduces our aims in establishing the following three technologies: technology to understand surroundings from sound (event-detection and scene-identification techniques), active-sound-control technology to make the sound heard only by listeners who want to hear, and active-noise-control technology to eliminate undesired sounds. This article describes our, the authors’, efforts regarding these technologies.
- Saxe: Text-to-Speech Synthesis Engine Applicable to Diverse Use Cases
Abstract
Technological advances such as deep learning and changes in the social structure where artificial intelligence supports and substitutes human activities have recently been accompanied by changes in use cases requiring speech-synthesis technology and in the functions and performance they require. Key issues in implementing these new use cases are understanding according to context, reproduction of speaker characteristics, and support for diverse operation environments. NTT Media Intelligence Laboratories is developing a speech-synthesis engine (development codename “Saxe”) based on deep neural networks to address these issues. This article provides a technological overview of Saxe along with several application examples and touches upon future developments.
- Speech Recognition Technologies for Creating Knowledge Resources from Communications
Abstract
Speech recognition technologies have been used in an increasing number of situations to support or substitute work traditionally done by people such as call analysis in contact centers and support for creating minutes of council meetings. We are promoting research and development of speech recognition technologies because we believe that speech significantly supports human activities, especially in business. In this article, we describe the historical development of speech recognition technologies cultivated by NTT laboratories and the future contributions and roles of such technologies in human and corporate activities. It also introduces the use of non-linguistic information read from voice, such as emotion, gender, and age, which has been attracting attention.
- Knowledge and Language-processing Technology that Supports and Substitutes Customer-contact Work
Abstract
At NTT Media Intelligence Laboratories, using natural-language-processing technology cultivated over many years as one of our core competences, we are researching and developing knowledge and language-processing technology that contributes to improving the productivity of contact centers and offices. In this article, a language model, document-summarization technology, and interview-support technology are introduced.
- Spatial-information Processing Technology for Establishing a 4D Digital Platform
Abstract
The four-dimensional (4D) digital platform integrates various sensing data about humans, things, and environments in real time into high-precision spatial information, enabling fusion with various industries’ platforms and future predictions. The platform achieves these by matching and integrating 4D information such as latitude, longitude, altitude, and time with high accuracy on an advanced geospatial-information database. For maintaining an advanced geospatial-information database with high accuracy and abundant semantic information, this article introduces two spatial-information processing technologies: (i) real-world digitalization to detect features from images and sparse/low-density 3D point clouds and (ii) 4D-point-cloud coding that efficiently stores and uses 3D data including time variations.
Feature Articles: NTT DOCOMO 5G Initiatives for Solving Social Problems and Achieving Social Transformation
- History of 5G Initiatives
Abstract
In March 2020, NTT DOCOMO began providing commercial fifth-generation mobile communications systems (5G) services, which we have been studying since about 2010. Since then, we have steadily released products supporting 5G, including six smartphone models and one data communications device (a Wi-Fi router), and have introduced seven services utilizing the high speed and high capacity of 5G, such as “Shintaikan Live CONNECT,” which enables multi-angle (multi-viewpoint) and virtual-reality live viewing.
This article describes the history of NTT DOCOMO’s development work and co-creation with partner companies and organizations in actualizing 5G, from when we started studying 5G through to provision of these services.
- NTT DOCOMO Contributions to 5G Standardization
Abstract
At the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the initial version of the fifth-generation mobile communications systems (5G) standard was completed in June 2018, and at the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Alliance, specifications for achieving a 5G open radio access network were released in March 2019. NTT DOCOMO is an active contributor to standardization efforts at 3GPP and O-RAN and the commercial 5G service that it launched in March 2020 conforms to 3GPP and O-RAN specifications. This article provides an overview of NTT DOCOMO’s contributions to the formulation of these specifications.
- 5G Network
Abstract
NTT DOCOMO launched its fifth-generation mobile communications system (5G) commercial service in March 2020 achieving early provision and stable quality by making maximum use of functions and coverage provided by LTE (Long Term Evolution). This article describes the development of radio base-station equipment and core network equipment for providing the 5G commercial service.
Regular Articles
- Soft Error Countermeasure for 10G-EPON ONU
Abstract
We developed a soft error countermeasure for the 10 Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (10G-EPON) optical network unit (ONU). This countermeasure allows an ONU to detect a soft error and reboot by autonomously turning its power off/on. This feature reduces the rate of inquiries because of soft error failure in 10G-EPON ONUs. It also reduces the number of operations required to respond to failures in telecommunication services.
Global Standardization Activities
Practical Field Information about Telecommunication Technologies
External Awards/Papers Published in Technical Journals and Conference Proceedings
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