= A Serial Introduction Part 1 =Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2021
In May every year, The ITU Association of Japan (ITU-AJ) proudly presents ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards to people who have madeoutstanding contributions in the field of international standardization and have helped in the ongoing development of ICT.
These Awards are also an embodiment of our sincere desire to encourage further contributions from these individuals in the future.
If you happen to run into these winners at another meeting in the future, please say hello to them.
But first, as part of the introductory series of Award Winners, allow us to introduce some of those remarkable winners.

Masashi Kamei

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/Fields of activity: ABU, ITU-R SG4, WRC, Satellite Broadcasting

International Collaboration with ABU for Standardization Activity
It is an honor to receive this ITU-AJ Encouragement Award. I would
like to express my sincere gratitude to the ITU Association of Japan and all
those who have given me guidance and encouragement.
I have been involved in standardization activities since WRC-07. I
participated in discussion of the agenda item on use of the 21-GHz- bandbroadcasting satellite service at APG07-5 and made contributions basedon results from our study for WRC-12 agenda item 1.13, on the 21-GHz
band broadcasting-satellite service. Our proposals, which enable flexible
use compensating for rain attenuation and providing future broadcasting
applications, were reflected in updates to Radio Regulations. We continue
study on the 21-GHz band broadcasting-satellite service and contribution
to ITU-R.
During the discussion in APG and WRC, the Asia-PacificBroadcasting Union (ABU), which is a professional association ofbroadcasting organizations including NHK in the Asia-Pacific region,
gave a lot of cooperation and support for our proposals and promoted

Daisuke Kurita

better understanding in other members. I learned that this international
collaboration was established by a tradition of both contribution by senior
members of NHK to ABU and trust by ABU in those members.
I was elected as a vice chairman of ABU Technical committeein October 2018. One of the agenda items of WRC-19 was related topromotion of UHDTV satellite broadcasting, which is already being
provided in Japan since December, 2018. Based on our traditionalrelationship, I was able to secure understanding and cooperation from
ABU to support Japanese activities on this agenda. Since APG19-5 washeld in Tokyo in August 2019, exhibiting UHDTV satellite broadcasting
was examined to promote understanding in foreign members who would
not otherwise have a chance to experience its immersive visual and sound. I
also gave a presentation for the ABU supporting Japanese activity.
I will continue to make efforts for international collaboration with
ABU and promote R&D results based on our traditional relationship.

NTT DOCOMO, INC.
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/
Fields of activity: 3GPP LTE-Advanced and 5G standardization

3GPP Activities on UMTS/LTE/LTE-advanced Antenna PerformanceStandards and 5G Physical Layer Standardization
I would like to offer sincere thanks upon receiving this ITU
Association of Japan Encouragement Award, and take this opportunity tothank the many people who offered their support and guidance.
I have participated in 3GPP RAN WG4 since 2007, studying mobile
station antenna performance requirements and evaluation technologies,
and in 3GPP RAN WG1 since 2018, studying and creating specifications
for advanced 5G NR technologies such as NR backhaul-link application
and NR communication area extension.
Mobile station antenna performance is the element that determines
communication areas, and we faced two main difficulties when beginning
discussion to create the standard specifications. The first was that network
operators want high performance, while mobile device vendors want theminimum performance. I proposed performance requirements consideringboth perspectives and considering discussion from each company. The

second was that in studying evaluation technologies for multi-antenna
performance, support was divided between two different evaluation
technologies. I proposed technology that permitted the technologies tocoexist, and were able to guide discussion with each company to conclude
the technical study.
In this way, I learned that although technical superiority is importantin discussion of standards, it is also important to make flexible proposals
that consider differing perspectives. I also devoted such thinking when
involved in study of 5G NR advanced technologies and contributed tocompleting the technology verification according to schedule.
I look forward to further advances in communication technology,
which will bring more richness and convenience to life in the future, andhope to contribute to that development.

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Taiji Sakamoto

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
https://group.ntt/en/Fields of activity: ITU-T SG15

Next-generation Optical Fiber Standardization Activity
I am very thankful to receive this Encouragement Award from theITU Association of Japan. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone
at ITU-AJ and ITU-T SG15 for their guidance and cooperation forstandardization activities in ITU-T SG15.
I have been involved in ITU-T SG15 (Transport, Access and Home)
Optical Fiber standardization Question 5 (Optical fiber characteristics
and test methods) and Question 8 (Optical fiber submarine cable systemcharacteristics) since 2012, promoting standardization of optical fiber for
high-speed, high-capacity transmission.
To support communication traffic as they continue to increase in

Takuya Shitomi

the future, standardization of optical fiber capable of even higher speeds
and capacity is needed, and we have already begun discussion of the next
generation of optical fibers, called multi-core fiber, which are structurally
very different from conventional optical fiber.
Communication standardization activity is essential to maintaining
interconnectivity, and optical fiber is the hardware at the core ofcommunication. I hope to continue contributing to establishing standards
for next-generation optical fiber and developing the basic opticalcommunications technologies supporting all of our lives and businesses.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)https://www.nhk.or.jp/corporateinfo/
Fields of activity: ITU-R WP6A, Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting

Activities related to digital terrestrial television broadcasting
It is a great honor to receive the Encouragement Award from the ITU
Association of Japan. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to theITU-AJ and everyone that has given me guidance and encouragement.
I have been acting as a member of the Japan delegation since 2017,contributing to WP6A mainly on two issues.
The first relates to transmission technologies for 4K/8K terrestrial
broadcasting. I contributed documents on the transmission technologies
developed in the research titled, “R&D related to advanced terrestrial
television broadcasting technology,” supported by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications, and the information was added to several
related reports. For the recommendation for 2nd generation digitalterrestrial television broadcasting systems (BT.1877), I also proposed arevision of the system selection guidelines to summarize the technicaldifferences and features between several transmission systems. In this work,

Kunihiko Teshima

the opinions of each country were in conflict, but we were finally able tolead to a revision of the recommendation allowing everyone to agree.
The second issue concerns methodologies for evaluating interference
on digital terrestrial television broadcasting using Monte Carlosimulations. I participated in the rapporteur group meeting, discussing thecorrespondence between the interference probability obtained by the Monte
Carlo simulations and the degradation of location probability used in theterrestrial broadcast link budget. We developed a new recommendation(BT.2136) and hope that the recommendation will be beneficial for both
broadcasting and other systems.
Through these activities, I was able to experience international
negotiations and broaden my perspective. I will continue to make efforts tocontribute to the effective use of radio waves and the promotion of Japan’s
efforts on next-generation broadcasting technologies.

NTT DOCOMO, INC.
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/
Fields of activity: Open RAN

Standardization activities at 3GPP and O-RAN
I am extremely honored to receive this ITU Association of Japan
Encouragement Award. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone at
ITU-AJ and all others involved.
I have been involved in RAN standardization activities at 3GPP
since about 2013. One of the issues I was involved in was discussion on
improving communication quality in high-speed mobile environments
such as Shinkansen trains. At the time, the issue was raised as just apotential issue, because high-speed environments like Shinkansen arelimited, even considering the whole world, so it was difficult to convinceothers that an extended specification to resolve the issue was necessary.
However, through patient discussion to identify the issue using field test
results and explaining it in detail, we finally reached understanding withmany operators and vendors. I later became rapporteur for this discussion,

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and the fact that we finally completed the extended specification is a goodmemory for me, even today.
Currently, I have moved my activities to the O-RAN Alliance,
working to implement an open and intelligent RAN, and am working
as a co-chair of one of the groups studying open interfaces to realize
a multi-vendor RAN. Enabling configuration of a RAN combining
equipment from different vendors would allow combinations that utilizefeatures from more vendors and products, to gain benefits in terms ofperformance, timing in providing services and cost. For RAN in the 5G
era, with demand for more advanced requirements and diverse services,implementing and open, multi-vendor RAN is more important than ever.
As a co-chair, I intend to continue driving discussion of creating an openRAN.