ISSN 0915-3160

通巻百四十三号

No.

3Vol. 36 July 2024
SummerS pec i a l Feat u reTechnology for Free-Viewpoint Broadcasting
Free-Viewpoint AR Streaming Technology

Broadcasting Professional Baseball by using Volumetric-video Technology

New Breeze Vol. 36 No.3 Summer

New Breeze

July 2024

C O N T E N T S

ISSN 0915-3160

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		 Special Feature — Technology
for Free-Viewpoint Broadcasting
1
6

Free-Viewpoint AR Streaming Technology

Broadcasting Professional Baseball by using Volumetric-video
Technology

		 Digital Opportunities

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10

Chairman: Wataru Kameyama
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TELEPHONE CORPORATION, Oki ElectricIndustry Co., Ltd., Softbank Corp.,
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Beyond 5G International Conference

Results of the 3rd Germany-Japan Beyond 5G/6G ResearchWorkshop		Report
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56th Celebration of World Telecommunication and Information
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The ITU Association of Japan (ITU-AJ) was founded on September 1, 1971, tocoordinate Japanese activities in the telecommunication and broadcasting sectors
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Free-Viewpoint AR Streaming Technology

Yuki Kawamura

Science & Technology Research Laboratories, Japan Broadcasting Corporation(Currently, Media Innovation Center, General Media Administration,
Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

1. Introduction

The start of 8K broadcasting, which has evolved throughquantitative improvement of specification of two-dimensional(2D) images, has led to expectations that media technology will
evolve in an axis other than the improvement of specifications.
Therefore, using Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR)
technology, which has been attracting a great deal of interest
since the beginning of 8K broadcasting, we propose a newviewing style that combines three-dimensional (3D) content
with broadcasting, and is engaged in research and developmentof a transmission technology to achieve this viewing style[1]. The
proposed transmission technology aims to efficiently stream 3D
contents in order to support live broadcast programs in the future.
For the STRL Open House 2022[2], we created content thatenables experiencing the proposed new viewing style based on
the NHK Special Dinosaur Super World. Viewers board a time
capsule with a reporter and travel back in time to the days whendinosaurs existed. While watching the Dinosaur Super World
Immersive Special Edition, viewers can enjoy 3D content, such as
the Spinosaurus, Ammonite, and other dinosaurs that appear in
the program, as AR content. The experience video can be viewed
through the link in reference[2].
This paper first outlines and describes the requirements of
the new viewing style we proposed. Next, we will discuss objectbased transmission, which is being researched and developed forthe efficient transmission of 3D contents, and the mechanism
for improving transmission efficiency by applying object-basedtransmission. Finally, using the content exhibited at the STRLOpen House 2022 as an example, we will introduce a concrete
method for creating data to be delivered by actual object-basedtransmission and packaging the data as a single content.

2. O utline of the proposed viewing style andrequirements

Figure 1 shows an overview of the proposed new viewing
style. Three-dimensional content that is transmitted via
telecommunication (Internet) and synchronized with 2D highdefinition video by television broadcasting is presented to mobile
display devices by AR. The TV program and 3D content sharethe same time axis and story, making it possible to render a new
visual expression by linking the two contents. For example, in thecontent exhibited at the STRL Open House 2022, the reporter
shown on the TV screen disappears from the TV screen and istransmitted to the AR display device as 3D content. In addition,
the ability to view 3D content from a free viewpoint enables
providing a new viewing experience not possible for conventional
2D images.
One of the requirements for the above-mentioned service is
to stream 3D content in real time. This is to enable reducing theviewer’s interaction cost related to downloading the 3D content
linked to the broadcast in advance and to synchronize the content
with the live broadcast program. On the other hand, since 3D
content generally involves a large amount of data, it requires
efficient transmission methods. To address this requirement, weare conducting R&D on the object-based transmission method[3].
■ Figure 1: Proposed viewing style

3. Object-based transmission

The proposed object-based transmission method is
a proprietary transmission protocol based on User Datagram
Protocol (UDP)/Internet Protocol (IP) that considers eachperformer and background content to be a single object andtransmits it in an identifiable state at the packet level. Figure 2
shows the frame structure of object-based transmission. In objectbased transmission, the encoded 3D data described below isframed for transmission by describing the information to uniquely
identify the 3D object, called Packet ID, in the header part. Then,each object is framed, and metadata, such as Presentation Time
Stamp (PTS) to be presented in the payload header, are described
and multiplexed. This method, which enables flexibly processing
each object at the packet level unlike when transmitting multiple
3D models together, can be applied to improve transmission
efficiency. For example, a 3D model of a motionless backgroundcan be transmitted at a lower frame rate than a 3D model of amoving performer, thus reducing the volume of data equivalent

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to the compressed frame rate. It is also possible to adjust the total
amount of transmitted data by assigning priority to each 3Dmodel and adjusting the quality of the 3D model itself.
3.1 3D model for transmission
The 3D model for transmission assumes encoding as meshgeometry and texture image for each frame. Google Draco[4] isused for the compression of mesh geometry, JPEG is used for thecompression of texture images, and GLB File Format[5], a binary
format of glTF (GL Transmission Format) 2.0, is used for thetransmission frame format. A moving 3D model is similar to themechanism for continuously displaying frames of still images tomake a movie. In a single file, a static 3D model is transmitted ataround 30 frames per second (fps) and is expressed by continuous
rendering on the display device. On the other hand, a 3D model ofa static background object transmits the same still image frame at
a rate of around 1 fps. Periodic transmission, even for backgroundobjects, is carried out for cases when viewers start viewing 3D
content midway through.
For convenience, the data of the 3D model that is actuallydistributed by object-based transmission is managed as sequential
GLB data with the number of frames to be transmitted as the file■ Figure 2: Frame structure for object-based transmission■ Figure 3: Block configuration of viewing app

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name in a folder with each object name as the folder name. For
example, the transmission data of a reporter, which is regarded as asingle object to be transmitted at 30 fps in the 120-second STRLOpen House content, is stored in a folder called “reporter” assequential data labeled from “00001.glb” to “03600.glb” in whichstill image frames of the 3D model of the reporter are encoded in
the above format.
3.2 Prototyping the viewing app
An application that receives 3D data delivered by object-basedtransmission and renders it in AR was implemented as an app thatruns on commercially available mobile devices (iPad/Apple).
Figure 3 shows the block diagram of the application. The
receiving application first receives an IP packet framed with anobject-based transmission protocol and separates multiple objects
that are multiplexed. Next, the transmission frame is reassembled
for each object and buffered until the time of rendering according
to the time stamp described in the header part of the packet.
Then, 3D content is continuously rendered in AR and presented
to the screen projected on the terminal. For rendering, AR Kit,
an AR support function of iOS/iPad OS, and the game engine(Unreal Engine 4) are used.

4. Increasing the efficiency of datatransmission

We are researching and developing a mechanism tostreamline the data transmission volume by applying objectbased transmission. This section describes the object filter[6]for streamlining the data delivery volume by optimizing thedata delivered in accordance with the audience, and the texture
thinning technique[7] for reducing the volume of the 3D datadelivered.
4.1 Object filter
Figure 4 shows the system configuration diagram of objectbased transmission including the object filter. As shown in
Figure 4, the object filter is installed on the transmission path
between the distribution server and the AR display device, and thedata to be distributed is optimized in accordance with the position
and gaze information of the viewer.
The data to be delivered is optimized by two methods:
frustum culling and resolution pattern selection. Frustum
culling is a method also used in general CG rendering and onlytransmits objects within the field of view of the display device.
Resolution pattern selection focuses on the fact that the 3D
content is displayed smaller when it is far from the display device
and larger when it is close to the display device. It is a method
for transmitting only data with a resolution corresponding to
the distance for objects with multiple resolutions. This makes it
possible to carry out more efficient transmission in the section

between the object filter and the display device compared withalways transmitting high-resolution data. These processes are
implemented simply at the IP packet level by using Packet ID as
an identifier.
4.2 Texture thinning
Figure 5 shows a conceptual diagram of texture thinning.
This method focuses on the fact that polygon topology and texture
mapping are the same between frames for non-live-action CG
models produced by CG modeling and other tools, and the sametexture image is used in all frames. Texture images with a large
amount of information are thinned out of the GLB data frames of
the 3D model.
The data for which texture image thinning has been carriedout cannot be rendered as a 3D model as it is. However, byreceiving the frame that includes the texture image once on thereceiving side, then caching and using the texture data again,
rendering can be carried out without problems on the display
device.
Here we discuss the effect of texture thinning using the
Spinosaurus used in the STRL Open House 2022 as an example.
The data has 63479 vertices and a texture resolution of 1024 x
1024 pixels; and without texture thinning, the transmission bit
rate is about 109 Mbps. On the other hand, it was confirmed thatthe amount of data can be reduced to about 34 Mbps by thinningthe encoded data so as to include the texture only once in 30
frames.

■ Figure 4: System configuration of object filter

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■ Figure 5: Texture thinning concept

5. Content packaging

In this section, we will introduce the flow for creating thedata to be actually delivered by object-based transmission andpackaging the data as content using the content created in STRLOpen 2022 as an example.
First, a check is conducted to determine whether the content
components can be decomposed into static parts and moving
parts. In this example, the time capsule is broken down into twoparts; namely, the floor, which is always stationary, and the wall
surface and ceiling, which disappear as particles when the scenechanges from land to sea, with each part treated as a separate
object.
The data to be delivered is then created. Figure 6 shows theflow for creating distribution data. The figure shows a reporter■ Figure 6: D istribution data creation procedure

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as volumetric video data, the Spinosaurus as non-live-action CG
data, and the time capsule (floor) as a static object. As shown in
the figure, the production method can be broadly divided into
three steps. First, (1) the component data with many vertices andhigh texture resolution is converted into sequential data in GLB
format for each object, along with reducing the number of vertices
and texture resolution. In this step, since the static object is thesame in all frames, the data to be created consists of only one
frame.
Next, (2) for each object, data is created and processed inaccordance with the characteristics of the object. Here, forvolumetric video, data with multiple resolution patterns is createdbased on object filters. For non-live-action CG objects, the texture
thinning described in section 4.2. is applied. With the exception

■ Figure 7: Timeline of STRL Open House 2022 content

of volumetric video data, each data reduction method was able
to keep high-quality data with many vertices and high texture
resolution at a transmission rate that enables stable streamingtransmission. Thus, multiple resolutions were not prepared for
non-live-action CG objects in this content.
Further, (3) timeline editing is performed to display the dataof each created object at the intended timing as the actual content.
This involves editing the file names. The figure shows an example
of renaming the file from “00001.glb” to “00240.glb,” assumingthat the first frame of the reporter’s material data is to be presented
at the 240th frame of the actual content. Dummy data is inserted
in frames where no object exists to turn off the display of objects.
Finally, a check is conducted to determine whether thetransmission bit rate, which varies depending on the transmitted
object, is within the target bit rate for stable streaming at key
points.
Figure 7 shows the timeline of the content exhibited at the
STRL Open House 2022.
As shown in the figure, a check is conducted to determine
whether transmission is within the target bit rate, especially when
multiple objects are transmitted at the same time. If not, step (1) is
repeated by adjusting the number of vertices and texture resolutionof the 3D model and creating the data again. If the transmission
is within the target rate, actual transmission is carried out andpackaging of the delivery data is completed after confirming thatstable streaming transmission can be performed.

6. Conclusion

Here, we outlined the service aimed at providing a newviewing experience by synchronizing 3D contents with broadcast
programs and discussed the transmission technology we areresearching and developing to implement the service. We thenexplained the actual distribution data creation method using thecontents of STRL Open 2022 as an example. Going forward,
to actualize the service, we plan to develop methods to reducethe cost and automate the creation of distribution data, develop
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP-based transmission
technologies that enable the use of CDN (Content Delivery
Network) for large-scale distribution, and develop and verify
browser-based applications with low viewer interaction costs.
References[1]	Yuki Kawamura, “Development of a real-time transmission technology for free-viewpoint
AR content synchronized with TV images,” Journal of the Institute of Image Information
and Television Engineers, vol. 75, no.1, p.131-138, Jan. 2021 (in Japanese).
[2]	NHK, “STRL Open House 2022 Exhibit 5 Free Viewpoint AR Streaming Technology,”
https://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/open2022/tenji/5/ index.html.
[3]	Yuki Kawamura, Yasutaka Maeda, Kensuke Hisatomi, Koichiro Imamura, “Object-basedtransmission of 3D content and adaptive viewing using multiple presentation methods,”
IEICE Technical Report, vol.121, no. 73, SIS2021-6, p.32-36, June 2021 (in Japanese).
[4]	Frank Galligan, “Draco Bitstream Specification,” https://google.github.io/draco/spec/,
Oct.2017.
[5]	Khronos Group, “The glTF 2.0 Specification,” https:// g ithub.com/ K hronosGroup/glTF/
blob/ma in / specification/2.0/.
[6]	Yuki Kawamura, Nobuhiro Hiruma, Koichiro Imamura, “An Implementation of Visible Object
Filter Gateway for Effective Streaming of Free- Viewpoint AR Content,” ITE Technical
Report, vol. 45, no. 35, p. 35-40, Nov. 2021 (in Japanese).
[7]	Nobuhiro Hiruma, Yuki Kawamura, Koichiro Imamura, “An efficient streaming method for3D spatial content,” ITE Winter Annual Convention, 22B-1, 2021.

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Broadcasting Professional Baseball by using Volumetric-video
Technology

Takayuki Shinoda

Yuji Watanabe

Nippon Television Network Corporation

Nippon Television Network Corporation

Nippon Television Network Corporation

Satoshi Sasaki

Taiji Kamiya

Hajime Sato

Atsushi Date

Canon Inc.

1. Introduction

Seventy years have passed since Nippon Television (NTV)
became the first commercial broadcaster to broadcast professional
baseball on August 29, 1953. What started as a live broadcast
with two cameras has evolved to the point that approximately
100 specialized cameras can instantly generate “volumetric video”(or “free-viewpoint video image”) that provide a special viewing
experience (Figure 1). Introduced for baseball broadcasts asa world’s first in April 2022, free-viewpoint video image was
implemented for five games in the 2022 season and for all 68
home games (at Tokyo Dome) of the Yomiuri Giants in the 2023
season.
This implementation of free-viewpoint video image has madeit possible to generate video replays of any scene, including batting,running between bases, and brilliant defensive coordination, with■ Figure 1: Free-viewpoint video images in professional
baseball broadcast

Canon Inc.

Canon Inc.

360-degree free camerawork. It creates a series of video images
from viewpoints that cannot be captured with normal cameras.
The series may include video images from the perspective ofplayers that make the viewer feel as if they were on the field or
highlights that stop at the moment of an outstanding play andmove around freely up, down, left, and right.

2. Overview of volumetric-video technology

Volumetric-video technology is a means of capturing imagesof a subject with a number of cameras and generating 3D spatial
data from the captured images. Multiple cameras surrounding
the subject capture all temporal and spatial changes and generate
3D models. The texture at the time of the captured pictures isattached to the generated 3D models, and free-viewpoint videos
images are generated by providing viewpoints from any position or
angle in the space.

3. Three features of the implemented
volumetric-video system

The three main features of the implemented volumetric-video
system are described as follows. The first feature is the methodof connecting the cameras. To configure the system by installing
multiple cameras in a stadium or arena, it is necessary to wire eachcamera by cable to a dedicated outside-broadcasting van housing avideo-generation server. In that case, if a “star-type connection” isused to connect the cameras and server on a one-to-one basis, thenumber of cables and distances required would be enormous. If
the total circumference of the stadium is estimated as 600 m, thetotal cable length would be 15 km. Given that fact, we configured

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the implemented system as a “cascade connection”; that is, thecameras are connected to each other and data is transmitted ina “bucket relay” fashion. This configuration makes it possible
to reduce the total cable length and significantly shorten the
installation period of the system (Figure 2).

■ Figure 3: High-precision synchronization of cameras■ Figure 2: Star- and cascade-type cable connections

the viewpoint method would require a huge number of cameras,
which is unrealistic. Accordingly, through detailed simulations ofcamera placement, we developed a “full-field method” that covers
the entire field with the optimal number of cameras. This new
method makes it possible to generate high-quality volumetricvideo images from anywhere in the image-capturing area.
The second feature is a system for highly accurate
synchronization of the cameras. Generating free-viewpoint videos
images for sports events necessitates accurately capturing fastmoving objects such as bats and balls. To meet that need, it isnecessary to synchronize a large number of installed cameras withhigh precision and capture images accurately at any given moment
and without any misalignment of the cameras at any installation
point. In response to that necessity, Canon has developed a highprecision video-recording technology that uses a master clock on
the network to control a large number of cascaded cameras andsynchronize the recording timing of each camera to the order ofmicroseconds (Figure 3). This technology has made it possible
to capture the high-speed pitches, bat swings, and struck ballsof professional baseball players accurately and generate freeviewpoint TV videos images.
The third feature is the wide image-capturing range.
While working on professional baseball broadcasts, we cameto realize that a valuable highlight scene is not only the momentof the batter hitting the ball but also the entire play, including
the action leading up to the outs during a double play. In otherwords, since incredible plays can occur anywhere on the field,
homogeneous images must be generated across the entire field.
Expanding the image-capturing area to the entire field by using

4. Configuration of system

The conf iguration of the system used for capturing
volumetric-video images during a live baseball game at Tokyo
Dome is shown schematically in Figure 4. The area from which
volumetric video images were captured was the infield portionof the Dome’s baseball field, which was covered by a determined
number and placement of cameras. The cameras and their control
boxes were clamped to the railing of the catwalk at the top ofTokyo Dome. Below the giant screens, which are inaccessible
from the catwalk, a temporary wooden stage above and behind theaudience seating area was constructed, and cameras were installedon it. With prior permission from the relevant authority, cameras
were also installed in green boxes under the back screen in a waythat would not obstruct the view of the players.
For rehearsals and the actual game, an outside-broadcast van
was brought in from Canon and parked outside Tokyo Dome,and the free-viewpoint video images were generated from thevan. The van was equipped with servers for generating freeviewpoint video images and connected to approximately 100
sets of cameras and their control boxes attached to the catwalkby optical cable via a network switch between them. A systemcontrol unit was also installed in an operation room in the Dome,
where Canon’s technicians took charge of system operation. For■ Figure 4: Optimal placement of cameras

New Breeze Summer 20247

generating the volumetric-video images, it is necessary to operate
a virtual camera; accordingly, NTV’s camera operators weretrained to generate two streams of free-viewpoint video images
under the instructions of a director so as to generate 1080i video
and 48-kHz/24-bit audio data. One of these streams continuously
assigns camera-motion paths from the start to the end of the gameand continues to generate free-viewpoint video every about threeseconds, and the other stream assigns camera-motion paths to theimmediately preceding play and generates replay video. The audio
data collected by NTV is imported into the volumetric-videogeneration servers and synchronized by the servers to generate thefree-viewpoint video.

seating. The player-introduction video and direction of cheering
are reflected realistically, and the excitement of the ballpark isconveyed as realistically as possible by the realistic background(Figures 6 and 7).
■ Figure 6: C amera for capturing background texture(blue frames)

5. Graphics

The volumetric-video images of the players are backed bya view of the Tokyo Dome, which is also computer-generated.
The key to making a live baseball game look realistic is therealism of the 3D graphics. The space for the volumetric-video
images is constructed from 3D data and textures scanned inside
Tokyo Dome in advance. To minimize the difference between thevolumetric-video images and images captured by regular broadcast
cameras, we paid close attention to details like grass and soil, andwe individually adjusted each object, repeatedly checking andcorrecting them, to create a space that looked like the inside of thereal Tokyo Dome (Figure 5).

■ Figure 7: Realistic background and placement ofimaginary objects■ Figure 5: Created CG images of realistic field and bases

From the opening-season game in 2023, a dedicated camera
was installed for capturing real-time texture with respect to thegiant-screen content above the back screen and spectator seating,and the captured textures were texture-mapped to a backgroundmodel to reproduce the giant screens, ribbon display, and spectator

Objects that do not actually exist inside the stadium, suchas airships and banners, were placed in the volumetric-video
space, and they were also used for program production andadvertisements. AI recognition of objects in the space is combinedwith advanced CG expressions such as drawing the trajectory ofpitches, tracking of players in wide-angle images to make it easierto see defensive formations, and tracking of markers in accordancewith the movements of runners of interest (Figure 8).

■ Figure 8: AI representation of pitch trajectory and player tracking

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6. Operation

Although a lot of know-how about live broadcasting using
volumetric video is available, camera operation in virtual space isfocused on hereafter. To manipulate the camera in virtual space,eight parameters are used: “x-axis,” “y-axis,” “z-axis,” “pan,” “tilt,”“roll,” “forwards/backwards,” and “zoom,” and one person must
control them simultaneously using their fingers only (Figure 9).
In the case of recording with a normal broadcast camera, althoughmultiple operations may be performed simultaneously, the physicallimitations on the camera’s range of motion make it easy to get an
idea of the camera’s movement. However, in the case of recordingwith the virtual-space broadcast camera, the free viewpoint allows
the camera to move infinitely within the virtual space; as a result,■ Figure 9: Operation status

it is very difficult to get a sense of where the camera is positioned
with respect to its central axis, and without sufficient training,
the production is not viable. It therefore took some time to getused to the camera while adjusting the speed and sensitivity of the
movement for each parameter.
Moreover, the production director had too much freedom inusing words to convey their own impressions of the volumetricvideo images, and it sometimes took time for communication
among the people in charge to get used to the system. Morethan a regular program, a live volumetric-video broadcast is notpossible without each person having a common purpose and visual
impression. Our know-how and experience inherited from 70
years of baseball broadcasting and the great efforts of numerous
personnel with a common goal made it possible to take on new
creative challenges and provide a new viewing experience.

7. Conclusion

The number of cameras set up around the catwalk giant
display in the Tokyo Dome started with 87 and exceeded 100 as
we improved the volumetric-video technology. The 3D models
created instantly from the TV images captured by these cameras
produced a series of images from angles and perspectives neverseen before in a manner that lead to the creation of a new viewing
experience. Being not limited to baseball, this volumetric-video
technology could also be applied to other sports. We will continue
to be constantly aware of “new perspectives” and strive to produce
programs that convey the fun of sports even more than before.
Finally, we thank all those involved for their cooperation in
the above-described broadcasting through the introduction of
volumetric-video (free-viewpoint video image) technology.

Cover Art
Enoshima, from Famous
Views of Tokaido Road

Utagawa Kunisada(1786-1864)
Source: National Diet Library,NDL Image Bank(https://rnavi.ndl.go.jp/imagebank/)

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Beyond 5G International Conference
Yusuke Maruyama

Deputy Director
Global Strategy Division Global Strategy Bureau
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

1. Introduction

In conjunction with the Beyond 5G
Promotion Consortium, Japan’s Ministryof Internal Affairs and Communications(MIC) co-hosted the “Beyond 5GInternational Conference” over two days,
February 1 to 2, 2024, at the New Otani
Hotel (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo) in a hybrid
format with online support.
Attending the conference were, fromJapan, Makoto Gonokami, President of
RIKEN (and Chairman of the Beyond
5G Promotion Consortium), Hideyuki
Tokuda, President of the National Instituteof Information and Communications
Technology (NICT), Susumu Yoshida,
Chairman of the Fifth Generation Mobile
Communications Promotion Forum,
Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University(Vice Chairman of the Consortium),
Akihiro Nakao, Professor, Graduate
School of Engineering, the University ofTokyo (Chairman of the International
C om m it te e of t he C on s or t iu m),
and representatives from industr y,
academia, and government, including
telecommunications carriers and vendors,
as well as many experts from overseas,
including government officials from theUnited States, South Korea, Finland,

Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil,
and India, vendors, and “Beyond 5G/6G”promotion organizations. It was evident
from the conference that expectations for
Beyond 5G are growing both domesticallyand internationally and momentum toward
the realization of Beyond 5G is increasing.
Welcoming a total of about 260 attending
participants and 1080 online participants,
the two-day meeting was a great success.

2. I nitiatives by industry,
academia, and government
to achieve “Beyond 5G”

In his opening remarks, Chairman
Gonokami of the Beyond 5G Promotion
Consortium, emphasized the importanceof international collaboration concerning
information and telecommunications andpromotion of research and developmentof adv a nced sem iconduc tors, A I,
quantum computing, and next-generation
communication technologies in a unified
and interrelated manner. He also delivereda strong message about his desire to expand
the circle of international collaboration forthe promotion of Beyond 5G around theworld.
Following the opening remarks,
in the government session, Ma rk■ Figure 1: Opening speech by Makoto
Gonokami, President of RIKEN

10New Breeze Summer 2024

Cullinane, Director of Bilateral andRegiona l A ffa irs, Cyberspace andDigital Policy Bureau, U.S. Departmentof State, explained that Beyond 5G/6G
is reliable and safe, and he pointed outthat Beyond 5G/6G networks must be
open and interoperable and introduced
a project to support the deployment ofOpen RAN in Palau through Japan-U.S.
cooperation. Kyeongrae Cho, Director of
Innovation Network Team, Ministry of
Science and ICT (MSIT), South Korea,
explained the “K-Network 2030” strategy
formulated in February 2023 and theareas that R&D will focus on towardcommercialization of 6G. Laura Eiro,
Director-General of the Data, Safety
and Security Department, Ministry ofTransport and Communications, Finland,
explained the importance of security,
sustainability, and standardization inregard to Beyond 5G/6G technologies.
As for the development of Beyond 5G/6G
technology, Tina K lüwer, DirectorGeneral of Directorate 5 - Research forTechnological Sovereignty and Innovation,Federal Ministr y of Education andResearch (BMBF), Germany, emphasized
the needs, sustainability, and resilienceand safety of digital systems and networks.

■ Figure 2: L ecture by Director Mark Cullinane of
the U.S. Department of State

In addition to that emphasis, she gave apresentation on the promotion of joint
research and development between Japan
and Germany.
Major international vendors thengave presentations on their initiatives andvisions. Magnus Ewerbring, Ericsson’s
CTO for Asia-Pacific, explained thatthe innovation that continues to buildand expand 5G networks will be utilized
for the future standardization of Beyond
5G/6G. Dr. Wen Tong, CTO of Huawei
Wireless, introduced how to design 6G
networks in the coming AI era. Peter
Vetter, President of Bell Labs Core
Research, Nokia, gave a presentation on
the importance of placing 6G networks
as a main pillar complementing the use of
AI and cloud computing. Dr. John Smee,
Senior Vice President of Engineering at
Qualcomm, explained that the company
must consider how 6G systems should bebuilt in consideration of lessons learned
from investments in 5G.
As for presentations from domestic
vendors, Nozomu Watanabe, Corporate
Executive of NEC Corporation, spoke
about Living Lab’s efforts throughindustry-university co-creation with
universities; Mototaka Taneya, Executive
Managing Officer, CTO, Head of R&D,
Sharp Corporation, spoke about the
spread of Beyond 5G in the world andSharp’s efforts in response to that spread;and Shingo Mizuno, Corporate Executive
Off icer EV P, Vice Head of System
Platform Business (in charge of Network
Business), Fujitsu Ltd., spoke about the useof AI and efforts to achieve openness forthe transition to 6G.
At the end of the first day, Seizo
Onoe, Director of the Telecommunication

Standa rdization Bureau of theInternational Telecommunication Union(ITU), took the stage and explained
the importance of worldwide outreachthrough standardization to bridge thegap between developed and developing
countries in regard to mobile networking
and the evolution of elemental technologies
regardless of generation.

3. Japan’s efforts toimplement Beyond 5G

At the beginning of the second day,
Hideyuki Tokuda, President of NICT,
gave a presentation on research anddevelopment concerning Beyond 5G/6G,
AI, quantum ICT, and cybersecurity,
testbed and research-grant initiatives,and international cooperation withGermany and France. From the Beyond
5G Promotion Consortium, Morio
Toyoshima, Director-General of the
Wireless Networks Research Center,
Network Research Institute, NICT,
spoke about the Scalability Working
Group of the International Committee
Te c h nolog y S ub c om m it te e ; Iw ao
Hosako, Executive Director of NICT’s
Beyond 5G R& D Promotion Unit,
talked about the subcommittee’s HighFrequency WG; and Takehiro Nakamura,
Chief Standardization Officer of NTT
Docomo, Inc., spoke about the White
Paper Subcommittee of the Committee forPlanning and Strategy.
After the above-described speeches,
representatives from domestic telecom­
munications carriers gave presentations
on their visions and efforts toward
implementing Beyond 5G. Sachiko
Oonishi, Executive Vice President andHead of Research and Development■ Figure 3: Lecture by Director Kyeongrae Cho of
MSIT of South Korea

Ma rket St rateg y Div ision, N T T,
explained about the Innovative OpticalWireless Network (IOWN) and NTT’s
version of a large-scale language model(LLM), called “tsuzumi,” that achieves
low power consumption. Toshikazu
Youkai, Chief Network Officer, Managing
Executive Officer, and Deputy General
Manager of Technology Sector, KDDI
Corporation, spoke about improving thequality of their robust telecommunications
infrastructure, the evolution of the power
to connect through partnering in Japan andoverseas, and efforts toward a digital twinin the 6G era. Tomohiro Sekiwa, SeniorVice President & CNO of SoftBank
Corporation, introduced the use of aerial
solutions concerning the Noto Peninsula
earthquake and the integration of AI into
communications. Ryoji Osaka, Executive
Advanced Technolog y Engineering
Division Manager, Rakuten Mobile, Inc.
explained the use of Open RAN and nonterrestrial networks (NTN) as effective
disaster countermeasures.
In the government session, Yasuo
Tawara, Director-General of the Global
Strategy Bureau at the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications, said that inaddition to supporting ultra-high-speed,large-capacity, low-latency, and numerous
connections as an extension of 5G, NICT’s
funds will support R&D in areas suchas optical networks and non-terrestrial
networks (NTNs) with the aim of creatinga Beyond 5G network that is reliable, safe,
autonomous, while consuming less power.
After that, Holly Creek, Acting Directorof Digital Infrastructure, Department for
Science, Innovation & Technology, UK,introduced the spectrum policy basedon the UK’s “Wireless Infrastructure■ Figure 4: Lecture by Director Seizo Onoe of ITU
Telecommunications Standardization

New Breeze Summer 2024

11

■ Figure 5: Lecture by Director-General Yasuo Tawaraof the Global Strategy Bureau, Ministry ofInternal Affairs and Communications

Strategy,” which was announced in April
2023. Hermano Tercius, Secretary of
Telecommunications of Brazil’s Ministryof Communications, gave a presentationon the status of 5G deployment in Brazil
as well as the goals of their 6G project.
Ravi A. Robert Jerard, Deputy DirectorGeneral (Standards-R&D-Innovation),
Department of Telecommunications,
Ministry of Communications, India,
introduced the use of security, AI andquantum computing in regard to Beyond
5G/6G.

4. Future outlook

For this international conference,
the Beyond 5G Promotion Consortium
invited representatives from overseas
6G-promotion organizations that havesigned a memorandum of cooperation.
David Young, Managing Director of Next
G Alliance in the USA, Colin Willcock,
Chairman of the Governing Board
Europe’s 6G Smart Networks and Services
Industry Association (6G-IA), and Pathak

Rajesh Kumar, Director-General of India’s
Bharat 6G Alliance, each took the stage
to discuss initiatives in each country andregion and share the status of cooperationin various industries around the world.
In addition, moderated by Professor
Nakao of the Universit y of Tokyo
Graduate School and Chair of the Beyond
5G Promotion Consortium International
Committee, a panel discussion was held todiscuss expectations for 6G initiatives andcollaborations around the world.
Professor Matti Latva-aho, Universityof Oulu, and Director for Finland’s 6G
Flagship, Abhimanyu Gosain, SeniorDirector of Northeastern University’s
Wireless IoT Laboratory of PAWR (USA),and Professor Lee HyunWoo of Dankook
University’s 6G Forum (South Korea)
participated in the meeting and confirmed
the need for international collaborationand cooperation to efficiently promote
standardization of 6G technologies.
Professor Nakao also delivered amessage of international cooperation to■ Figure 7: P anel discussion facilitated byProfessor Nakao of the University ofTokyo Graduate School

12

New Breeze Summer 2024

■ Figure 6: S peech by Holly Creek, Acting
Director, Department for Science,
Innovation & Technology, UKestablish values that can be shared acrosscountries.
In closing the two-day conference,
Susumu Yoshida, Chairman of the Fifth
Generation Mobile Communications
Promotion Forum, expressed his hopefor further strengthening of international
collaboration on future R&D of Beyond
5G and its future popularization anddeployment.
At the Beyond 5G International
Conference, in addition to discussing
the further development and deployment
of 5G, the participants shared theirrecognition of the need for longterm industr y-academia-government
collaboration—ranging from researchof elemental technologies to social
implementat ion a nd innov at ion—for promoting Beyond 5G, and theyc on f i r me d t he i r c om m it me nt tointernational cooperation.
Note: The official posts of the “Beyond 5G Promotion
Consortium” and “5th Generation Mobile Promotion Forum”
are valid as of February 2024.

■ Figure 8: Closing remarks by Susumu Yoshida,
Chairman of the Fifth Generation Mobile
Communications Promotion ForumResults of the 3rd Germany-Japan Beyond 5G/6G ResearchWorkshop
Masafumi Hashimoto

Director
Innovation Promotion Department
Standardization Promotion Office
National Instituted of Information and Communications Technology

1. Introduction

The National Institute of Information
and Communications Technology (NICT)
is engaged in international exchange on
Beyond 5G/6G research. NICT co-hosted
the 3rd Germany-Japan Beyond 5G/6G
Research Workshop with 6G Platform
Germany, an organization that organizes
6G research projects in Germany.
Dates: February 5 (Mon) to 6 (Tue),
2024
Venue: NICT Innovation Center (15thf loor, Nihombashi Tower,
Tokyo)
Participants: Open to anyone interested
i n B e yond 5G/6G
research activities
The f irst day was the day after“Risshun” (the first day of spring), but
the weather was unexpected, with snow
starting to fall in the afternoon to a few
centimeters in Tokyo. Nonetheless, 75
participants (52 from Japan and 23 from
Germany) participated and engaged in an
enthusiastic exchange of opinions.

2. Review of previous events

This workshop started as a researchlevel international exchange activity
following the exchange of opinions

between Japan’s Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications (MIC)
and the German Federal Ministry of
Education and Research (BMBF).
The two countries are working to build
cooperat ive relat ionsh ips bet ween
universities, research institutes, and theprivate sector through Beyond 5G/6G
R& D col laborations. Mr. Takeak i
Matsumoto, Minister for Internal Affairs
and Communications, and Ms. Bettina
Stark-Watzinger, Federa l Ministerof Education and Research, signed a
Memorandum of Cooperation in the fieldof communications technology on May 11,
2023.
The 1 st Germany-Japan Beyond
5G/6G Research Workshop was heldfrom April 24 to 25, 2023 at the NICT
Headquarters in Koganei. The workshop
was attended by 73 participants (51from Japan and 22 from Germany).
From Japan, par ticipants included
researchers from NICT and Beyond
5G R&D Fund commissioned research
institutions, members of the Beyond 5G
Promotion Consortium, representativesof telecommunications carriers, vendors,
and academic societies. From Germany,
participants included representatives

from the BMBF 6G Research Hubs of
6G (6GEM, 6G-Life, 6G-RIC, andOpen6GHub), 6G Platform Germany,
universities, and private companies.
T he f i r s t w ork s hop i nc lu d e dpresentations of research activities
on Beyond 5G/6G in both countries, aposter session, and a panel discussion to
explore the possibilities and directions ofcooperation between Japan and Germany.
In a questionnaire survey conducted after
the event, positive comments were received
such as “the event was very helpful ingiving an idea of the concrete initiatives ofJapan and Germany for Beyond 5G/6G”
and “it provided ample time to discuss withparticipants from Japan and Germany.”
The 2 nd Germany-Japan Beyond
5G/6G Research Workshop was held in
Berlin at the same time as the Berlin 6G
Conference from June 27 to 29, 2023.
The Berlin 6G Conference is an exchange
event that brings together people engaged
in 6G from all over Germany. Despite
being held for the first time, the event
was attended by more than 1,000 people.
From Japan, 12 representatives from the
Beyond 5G R&D Fund commissioned
research institutions, NICT, Beyond 5G
Consortium, and the Japanese Embassy in■ Figure 1: Group photo of participants

New Breeze Summer 2024

13

Germany participated.
In the plenary session on the first day,Japanese participants took the stage andtook commemorative photos with officials
from the German Federal Ministry of
Education and Research and 6G Platform
Germany. In addition, Dr. Iwao Hosako,
Director General of the Beyond 5G R&D
Promotion Unit at NICT, Mr. Yoji Kishi,
Executive Director of KDDI ResearchInc., and Mr. Takehiro Nakamura,
Director at N T T DoCoMo, who
represented the Beyond 5G Consortium,
each gave a lecture.
The Germany-Japan Beyond 5G/6G
Research Workshop was held as one ofthe parallel sessions of the Berlin 6G
Conference and was attended by morethan 60 participants. There were 13
proposals from both countries on research
themes for cooperation between Japan andGermany that were accepted beforehand.
A representative from the Federal Ministryof Education and Research of Germany
announced that it would provide budget
support for around one year starting fromthe following year for Germany-Japan
R&D collaborative projects. Also, a tour of
the Berlin 6G Conference demonstration

exhibit showcased the various use cases of
6G.

3. Initiatives of the German
and Japanese governments

Lectures were delivered on theinitiatives of the German and Japanese
governments on Beyond 5G/6G. It became
a valuable opportunity to grasp the policy
trends of the MIC and the BMBF.
Mr. Ta k a hiro Tana k a (Deput y
Director, MIC) gave a lecture on Japan’s
Beyond 5G/6G promotion strateg y.
In addition to the R&D and testbed
maintenance that have been carried out
since FY2021, he explained about thelaunch of the 81.2-billion-yen R&D fundin FY2023. He also mentioned that a new
Beyond 5G/6G strategy will be announced
this summer.
M r. K a i B ö r n e r ( V D I / V DE
Innovation + Technik) introduced
Startup Connect, a BMBF initiative
to support start-ups in the f ield of
telecommunications. Four incubators
were set up to provide start-ups withinformation, measurement equipment,
and networking contacts. Start-ups also
receive funding to accelerate the transfer

of research results into the market. He
also mentioned that BMBF and MIC are
discussing ways to implement GermanyJapan cooperation projects. The first phaseof the Germany-Japan cooperation projectwill be presented at the 4th GermanyJapan research workshop to be held in
Berlin in July 2024.
■ Figure 4: Lecture by Mr. Takahiro
Tanaka■ Figure 5: Lecture by Mr. Kai Börner

■ Figure 2: P hoto from the first workshop

4. Panel Discussion■ Figure 3: Photo from the second workshop

14

New Breeze Summer 2024

The two-day panel discussions delvedon the possibilities of Germany-Japan
cooperation in research and development
on Beyond 5G/6G. The panelists and theaudience engaged in lively discussions.
1. Overview of the first day
The panelists on the first day were
Prof. Akihiro Nakao (University of Tokyo),Prof. Kei Sakaguchi (Tokyo Tech), Dr.
Takayuki Kuroda (NEC), Mr. Takehiro
Nakamura (NTT DoCoMo), Prof. Aydin
Sezgin (Ruhr University Bochum), Dr.
Renato Cavalcante (Fraunhofer HHI),
and Dr. Szabolcs Malomsoky (Ericsson).
Dr. Kentaro Ishizu (NICT) served as themoderator.
In the discussions, the question of
the importance of using digital twinsin the Beyond 5G/6G era not only for■ Figure 6: Panel discussion on the first day

monitoring but also for services thatinvolve interaction with people wasraised. A participant expressed the viewthat digital twins will undergo gradualadvancement, wherein today’s digital twins
are still in the 0th stage of monitoringand sensing. This will be followed by the
first stage of visualization, the second
stage of optimization, and the third
stage of prediction. He also mentionedthat digital twins could be used to predict
lightning strikes, traffic congestion, andpeople’s health conditions. Initiatives oftelecom operators in using digital twins
to autonomously manage their networks
and increase their resilience were also
introduced, and the use of digital twins
outside of the telecom industry was alsosuggested.
Next, concerns were raised about thesustainability of artificial intelligence (AI)and digital twins as they consume large
amounts of energy. Efforts to develop
lightweight AI with emphasis on Japanese
language processing in Japan were thenintroduced. In addition, the necessity tocontrol the network and reduce power
consumption in accordance with thecommunication demand was pointed out.
The importance of sustainability as well as
the pursuit of performance in the systemdesign of Beyond 5G/6G was also noted.
As AI and machine learning (ML)have become increasingly used in research,
researchers discussed whether they should
focus more on mathematical analysis or
AI/ML data. Some were of the opinion
that since Beyond 5G/6G is AI-native,
young researchers should actively use AI/■ Figure 7: P anel discussion on the second day

ML while keeping in mind the ethicalissues of their use.
Lastly, discussions were held on
potential topics for cooperation between
G er m a ny a nd Jap a n , c onc lud i n gthat resilience, digital twins, energy
consumption, and AI will continue to beconsidered as candidates.
2. Overview of the second day
The panelists on the second day were
Mr. Hideaki Takahashi (Nokia), Dr.
Satoshi Konishi (KDDI Research Inc.),
Dr. Takeshi Matsumura (NICT), Mr.
Yuji Tazaki (Fujitsu), Prof. Andreas Stöhr(Univ. Duisburg-Essen), and Mr. Niels
König (Fraunhofer IPT). Prof. Haris
Gačanin (RWTH Aachen Univ.) served as
the moderator.
First, measures to curb energ yconsumption were discussed. Among themeasures cited were the use of opticalfibers and the transition from centralized
processing to distributed processing.
The ability of NICT’s wireless emulator,
which enables demonstration of a largescale wireless system in a virtual space, tomake system construction efficient was
mentioned.
Next, the fusion of radio and light
was discussed. The difficulty of installing
optical fibers in different sorts of areasin Japan was pointed out, along with thenecessity to strengthen the entire network,
rather than choosing between wireless or
optical, in light of the doubling of traffic
every three years. It was also mentionedthat customers view networks from an endto-end perspective.
With the advent of the new generationsof 4G, 5G, and Beyond 5G/6G, it
was noted that the management ofheterogeneous networks will become
crucial. Efforts to develop a standard thatallows flexible frequency selection at 3GPP
were introduced. Also, the effectiveness ofevaluating the response using AI to avoid
network failures was suggested since theoptimal solution differs from generation to
generation.
Regarding topics for Germany-Japan
cooperation, the panelists have agreed that
research institutes, vendors, and operators
should continue considering issues ofcommon interest.

5. Lectures by researchers

The rich variety of presentations fromresearchers showed that Beyond 5G/6G
can serve as the foundation of all industries
and social activities.
Dr. Tetsuya Ido (NICT) introduced
the Wi-Wi space-time synchronization
technology. For satellites, a technology has
been established to compare time between
UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)and JST (Japan Standard Time) with anaccuracy in nano (10 -9) seconds. Wi-Wi
makes this possible between small wirelessdevices. They are also developing anantenna that reduces the phase error arisingfrom the transmission and reception angles.
Dr. Motoaki Hara (NICT) presented
the development roadmap for an ultracompact atomic clock with a size of 0.5
cc or less and the latest development
progress. He also introduced the cluster
clock infrastructure, in which numerous
communication nodes equipped with

New Breeze Summer 202415

atomic clocks cooperate to achieve highly
stable and reliable time synchronization,and introduced the new time-series
algorithm required for this technology.
Dr. Ryosuke Isogai (NICT) reported
the success of a demonstration experiment
for transmitting 120 MB of data in about
0.5 seconds, the time it takes for drones topass each other. Two drones were equippedwith IEEE802.15.3e-compliant 60-GHz
wireless devices, and high-frequency
communication was established within the
short period of time that the two drones
passed each other, enabling high-capacity
data transmission.
Mr. Kentaro Tani (NGK Insulators)
introduced a hybrid bonded wafer for subterahertz band antenna. The wafer, which
is made of a silica glass functional layer
and a silicon base substrate directly bonded
together, has low loss characteristics over awide frequency band of 100 GHz or more,
and is resistant to high temperatures andhigh humidity.
D r. Yu s u k e D o h i ( J R E a s t)
introduced the efforts of the Research andDevelopment Center of JR East toward
the utilization of Local 5G and discussed
the necessity of technical and institutional
studies to construct linear wireless areas
such as for railway tracks. The paper by Dr.
Dohi reporting on Local 5G verification
test on Shinkansen Deadhead Line won
the 39 th Telecom System Technology
Award of the Telecommunications
Advancement Foundation.
Mr. Niels König (Fraunhofer IPT)
introduced production research conductedat the 5G-Industry Campus Europe. This
research is aimed at concurrently solving
problems of quality, time, and cost withthe use of 5G. They demonstrated thata 5G multi-sensor platform enabled a5-axis milling machine to accurately create
aircraft engine blades by transmitting datasuch as acceleration, strain, temperature,and humidity.
Mr. Till Witt (NXP Semiconductors)
int roduced Ger ma n in it iat ives inquant um computing. The German
government included 2 billion euros for
R& D on quantum technologies andquantum computing in the budgetary
package for economic stimulus in 2020.
NXP semiconductors is involved inthree governmental projects; namely,
demonstration of a 10-Qbit computer,development of a 50-Qbit prototype
computer, and construction of a modular
platform.

6. Poster session

Japanese and German researchers
engaged in active discussions withparticipants in front of the posters.
The fol low ing poster presentation
overview excludes posters related toresearch presented in the lectures anddemonstrations.
Dr. Tobias Meuser (TU Darmstadt)
presented their experiments with functions
for switching the components of thewireless access network and switching thevarious nodes of the core network by ML
in order to increase the resiliency of 5G
and 6G networks.

■ Figure 8: Lecture from the Japanese side
(Dr. Tetsuya Ido)

16

New Breeze Summer 2024

Mr. Michael Weimer (Fraunhofer
FHR) presented their research on joint
communication and sensing ( JCS),
which uses radio waves for wirelesscommunication in combination withsensing. They presented initial results
towards formulating the concept for a longrange OFDM radar for demonstration of
JCS and its required technologies.
Mr. Andreas Bathelt (Fraunhofer
FHR) presented his research on timesynchronization for JCS. He discussed
a basic algorithm that creates a virtual,common clock using a consensus approach
among multiple devices and then adjusts
the different local times of these devices.
He also presented an asynchronous
operation of this algorithm.
Dr. Sören Kerner (Fraunhofer IML)
presented their research on the PACE
Lab, a robotics 3D-data acquisition test
field featuring a high-precision motion
capturing system as well as softwaredefined radio system to develop 6G-driven
services in the context of the 6GEM
project. Within the PACE Lab, thesimulation-based digital twin reproduces
the experiment implemented in physicalspace in real time, including shadowing
effects by obstacles.
Mr. Niels König (Fraunhofer IPT)
presented their collaborative researchwith an interdisciplinary consortium on
manufacturing, cybersecurity, mobile
technology, and academia to analyze
security risks posed by 5G and to develop
measures for prevention, detection, andresponse at the 5G-Industry Campus■ Figure 9: Lecture from the German side
(Mr. Till Witt)Europe. Furthermore, he also presented
a testbed activity investigating mmW
in industrial applications, especially the
bandwidth implications on propagation,
performance, and use cases.
Dr. Renato Cavalcante (Fraunhofer
HHI) introduced the activities of the
6G Research and Innovation Center(6G-R IC). The highlights of theiractivities include verification experimentson the world’s first long-range D-band
system and channel charting for indoor
localization.
Dr. Dirk Wübben (University ofBremen) and Mr. Till Witt (NX P
Semiconductors) presented their researchon the integration of terrestrial and nonterrestrial networks. They are investigating
technical aspects such as functional split
and RAN placement among satellites,
HAPS, drones, and terrestrial systems andinformation-preserving compression for
efficient and reliable transmission.
Prof. Haris Gačanin (RWTH Aachen
University) presented their research on
the applications of machine learning inwireless communication. They developed
a prototype system to improve energy
efficiency by efficient utilization of FPGA
based on operational data and learning
functions.
Prof. Andreas Stöhr (Universit y
D u i s bu r g-E s s en) pr e s ente d t hei r
demonstrations on wireless communicationin THz band such as multi-beams serving
two users and high data rates of 200 Gbit/s.
Dr. Nida l Za r i feh ( Un iversit y
Duisburg-Essen) presented their researchon reliable THz connection in a smart
hospital. They are modelling THz
channels in a surgery room scenario
and conducting related measurements
and experiments to establish connection
between the THz access point and VR
headset.
Dr. Yuki Yoshida (NICT) presented
their research on data sharing between theGermany-Japan optical network testbeds
in a way that is compliant with utilization
policies that uphold data sovereignty, i.e.,
policies that are defined by the data owner,in order to accelerate research on networkAI.

Dr. Kentaro Fur usawa (NICT)
introduced a method for generating highquality terahertz reference signals fromlasers used for frequency standards using
compact, power-saving device calledmicrocomb, and reported on their efforts tofabricate and evaluate devices.
Prof. Sangyeop Lee (Tokyo Tech)
reported that they have fabricated andevaluated film-type absorber, reflector, andradome with characteristics of millimeterand terahertz-wave bands and obtained
favorable results.
Dr. Takahiro Kaji (NICT) presented
their research on radio-over-fiber (ROF),
which transmits terahertz frequency signals
using optical fibers. They have fabricateda D-band (110-170 GHz band) modulator
with antennas and demonstrated highspeed direct conversion between terahertz
waves and light.
Mr. Yoichi K ansaku ( JR East)
presented their research on an integrated
service that covers international tourism
experience to satisfy the end-to-end needsof inbound tourists in Japan. The service
supports tourists in online planning fromtheir country of departure and in guidingthem to their destinations after arrival.

which an RIS-equipped drone was used forangle-of-arrival estimation.
Prof. Ch r ist ia n Z enger (Ru h r
Un iv er sit y B o c hu m) pre s ente d ademonstration video on remote monitoringin security areas through the detection ofradio frequency signals using PHYSEC’s
anti-tamper radios. In case of physicalintrusion and destruction, the changes
detected in radio frequency signals triggera warning.
■ Figure 11: Demonstration by Prof.
Aydin Sezgin■ Figure 12: Demonstration by Prof.
Christian Zenger■ Figure 10: P oster session

8. Conclusion

7. Demonstration session

Two demonstrations were presented
by researchers from Germany. Both were
demonstrations that allowed participants
to experience the service and attracted wide
attention among the participants.
Prof. Aydin Sezgin (Ruhr University
Bochum) presented their research onreconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS).
They showed a demonstration video in

Lively discussions took place among
the participants in all the sessions,ref lecting the commitment of Japaneseand German researchers towards theadvancement of Beyond 5G/6G. It seemedthat research on the Japanese side focusedon important technological seeds, whilethat on the German side focused onservices that are easy to visualize. The keeninterest among the German researchers
in reducing energy consumption was
remarkable.
The 4th German-Japan Beyond 5G/6G
Research Workshop will be held from
July 1 to 4, 2024 in Berlin. It will be open
to anyone interested in Beyond 5G/6G
research activities, so we hope that many
people will be able to attend.

New Breeze Summer 2024

17

56th Celebration of World Telecommunication and Information
Society Day
The ITU Association of Japan
Planning Department
The 56th Celebration of World Telecommunication andInformation Society Day was held by The ITU Association ofJapan (ITU-AJ) on May 17, 2024 at the Keio Plaza Hotel in
Nishishinjuku, Tokyo. It was attended by approximately 110
guests from the Japanese government, telecommunications
and broadcasting industries and other related organizations. A
celebration party was held after the ceremony.
May 17 is the day in 1865 on which the first International
Telegraph Convention was signed laying the foundation for today’s
International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Named “World
Telecommunication and Information Society Day,” ITU-AJ holds
a ceremony in Japan to commemorate this anniversary in unisonwith ITU and other countries. Continuing a long tradition, the
MIC Minister’s Award and ITU-AJ awards were presented at
this ceremony for the 52nd time to honor the achievements ofindividuals who have been active in a wide range of informationcommunications and broadcasting fields in conjunction withinternational standardization and international cooperation.
At the ceremony, Mr. Koichi Watanabe, State-Minister forInternal Affairs and Communications, talked about the importantrole that Japan has come to play in deepening international
cooperation, such as by holding the G7 Digital and Tech
Ministers’ Meeting and Internet Governance Forum (IGF) lastyear, and about Japan’s ongoing commitment to making proactive
contributions through ITU activities. In addition, Mr. Yoshifumi
Tsuge, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, explained how ITUAJ, by cooperating in initiatives led by the ITU, Asia-PacificTelecommunity (APT), and other institutions and contributing
to the development of telecommunications and broadcasting
technologies in Japan and throughout the world, has come to■ Commemorative group photo

18

New Breeze Summer 2024

expand its activities as a key facilitator of cooperation between
Japan and those institutions. He also told us about the efforts of
ITU-AJ in obtaining executive posts for Japan in international
institutions. Continuing on, Dr. Hideyuki Tokuda, Chair of the
ITU-AJ Award Selection Board, reported on this year’s selections.
These talks were followed by the presentation ceremony
for the MIC Minister’s Award and ITU-AJ awards. The MIC
Minister’s Award was presented to Dr. Yukihiro Nishida, Japan
Broadcasting Corporation, who served as chairman of ITU-R
SG6 for an eight-year period from 2015–2023, led initiatives for
introducing new technologies such as AI and immersive media
in broadcasting including the formulation of recommendations
for an Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) video system
and High-Dynamic Range Television (HDR-TV) system,
and received the 75th Engineering, Science & Technology
Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts
and Sciences. Next, the ITU-AJ Special Achievement Award
was presented to Dr. Maki Sugimoto, CEO of Holoeyes, Inc.,
professor at the Innovation Lab, Okinaga Research Institute,
Teikyo University, and surgeon in the Department of HPB
Surgery, Teikyo University School of Medicine, who has promoted
the use of ICT technology in the medical field (surgery) and has
recently been active in the development, provision, and spread of
specific products for applying XR, VR, AR, and MR technologies
to surgical procedures.
In addition, the ITU-AJ Accomplishment Award waspresented to eight individuals and one organization and the ITUAJ Encouragement Award was presented to 15 individuals. Theseawards honor contributions to ITU activities or ITU-related
activities in Japan, contributions to implementing the Declaration

of Principles and Plan of Action at the World Summit on the
Information Society, contributions to international cooperation
activities in the information-communications, broadcasting, andpostal fields, and other achievements related to international
activities in information-communications and broadcasting.
After the presentation ceremony, Dr. Maki Sugimoto,recipient of the ITU-AJ Special Achievement Award, gave theAnniversary Keynote Presentation under the theme of “Digital
Transformation in Surgical Medicine.”
This year, as well, we are grateful that the MIC Minister’sAward and ITU-AJ awards could be presented at the ceremony
venue. We wish all the award recipients great success and good
health in the years to come, and we extend our gratitude to
the award recommending organizations and to everyone who
graciously supported this ceremony. Please visit the ITU-AJ
website to view an outline and other photos of the ceremony.
https://www.ituaj.jp/?page_id=31982 (Japanese only)■ Dr. Yukihiro Nishida, MIC Minister's Award■ Recipients of the ITU-AJ Encouragement Award■ List of Recipients of the MIC Minister’s Award and 52nd
ITU-AJ Awards(Titles omitted) (Affiliations at time of recommendation)

MIC Minister's Award
Dr. NISHIDA Yukihiro (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
ITU-AJ Special Achievement Award"Dr. SUGIMOTO Maki (Holoeyes Inc.
Innovation Lab,Teikyo University Okinaga Research InstituteDepartment of HPB Surgery, Teikyo University School of
Medicine )"ITU-AJ Accomplishment Awards■ Dr. Maki Sugimoto, ITU-AJ Special Achievement Award

Mr. INOUE Masazumi (KDDI Foundation)
Mr. IMATA Satoshi (KDDI CORPORATION)
Ms. IWASAKI Junko (NEC Corporation)
Dr. IWAMA Tsukasa (National Institute of Information
and Communications Technology)
Mr. GUNJI Yoshimasa (BHN Association)
Dr. KONDO Yoshihiro (NTT Advanced Technology
Corporation)
Dr. NAKAMURA Hirotaka (NTT Innovative Devices
Corporation)
Dr. YAMADA Wataru (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Corporation)
HAPS GLOBAL SPECTRUM STANDARDIZATIONTEAM (SoftBank Corp.)
ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards■ Recipients of the ITU-AJ Accomplishment Award

Mr. AGATA Mikiya (KDDI CORPORATION)
Mr. UTSUNOMIYA Ryusuke (Rakuten Mobile, Inc.)
Dr. UNNO Kyohei (KDDI Research, Inc.)
Mr. KAWASAKI Junichi (KDDI Research, Inc.)
Mr. SUGASAWA Koichi (NTT e-Asia Corporation)
Mr. SUZUKI Yasuki (KDDI CORPORATION)
Ms. SUYAMA Momoko (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Mr. TAKEDA Daiki (NTT DOCOMO, INC.)
Ms. CHEN Wenjing (NTT DOCOMO, INC.)
Dr. NANBA Shinobu (KDDI CORPORATION)
Dr. FUJII Katsumi (National Institute of Information andCommunications Technology)
Mr. FUSHIKI Masashi (Fujitsu Limited)
Mr. MATSUKAWA Ryusuke (NTT DOCOMO, INC.)
Mr. YAMAZAKI Hiroto (Japan International Cooperation
Agency)Dr. WATANABE Junji (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Corporation)

New Breeze Summer 2024

19

= A Serial Introduction Part 4 =Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2023
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.

Toshikazu Yurugi

KDDI Foundation
https://www.kddi-foundation.or.jp/english/
Fields of activity: ICT Development in the Asia and Pacific Region

Overcoming Pandemic Challenges facing International Collaborative
Projects

Being deeply honored to receive the ITU-AJ Encouragement
Award, I sincerely thank the members of the ITU Associationof Japan and everyone who has collaborated with me on myendeavors. The international collaborative projects recognized bythis award were primarily part of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity(APT) initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide. These
projects, carried out in developing countries and rural areas,
started with establishing the physical layer, such as constructing
a robust terrestrial optical fiber network based on technology
developed by Japan. After that, the projects were extended beyond
the physical layer to deal with a wide range of social issues,
including healthcare, education, disaster management, andreducing disparities for the disabled, through deployment of theapplication layer. From identifying challenges to implementing
solutions during these projects, I found that active communication
with the partner country is critical.
T he COV I D-19-pa ndemic-induced d isr upt ion tointernational travel posed a significant challenge to the progress

20

New Breeze Summer 2024of the projects. Communication was confined to online channels,
and we had to rely on remote coordination based on local
information and verbal instructions from remote locations.
Despite these hurdles, we made steady progress in areasthat could be advanced remotely, such as finalizing system
specif ications and remote procurement, with an online
communication tool that developed rapidly as a result of thepandemic. Thanks to those efforts, we could quickly resume
project activities once the pandemic subsided after mid-2022, andwe could achieve the expected results soon after the resumption.
This accomplishment is a typical example of overcoming thevarious obstacles we encountered through utilization of ICT.
Thus, thanks to the solid ICT infrastructure developed as a resultof the pandemic, the projects could rapidly introduce the benefitsof new ICT technologies to developing countries and rural areas
soon after the pandemic subsided. By utilizing the upward spiral of
ICT, I intend to accelerate my international contributions.

Soichiro Wami

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation
https://www.ntt-east.co.jp/en/
Fields of activity: Promote ICT development in Vietnam and other Southeast

Asian countries

Utilizing ICT to Develop Local Communities in Southeast Asia
I am grateful to receive the Japan ITU-AJ Encouragement
Award, and I express my sincere gratitude to the ITU Associationof Japan and all those involved who provided guidance andcooperation on a daily basis.
From 2004 to 2008, under a Business Cooperation Contract
between the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group(VNPT) and NTT Vietnam (now NTT e-Asia), a groupcompany of NTT East, I worked with VNPT members on
the construction and operation of telecommunications facilities.
During that time, starting in 2006, I was involved in conducting
joint trial projects concerning the deployment of FTTH
in Vietnam, in which FTTH had not yet been introduced.
We dispatched experts from Japan to transfer know-how onequipment design, construction techniques, and maintenance
operations to local engineers. I believe that these projects
contributed to the development of FTTH services in Vietnam.

From 2019, in accordance with a Memorandum of Understandingof cooperation on promotion of smart cities signed by NTT Eastwith BECAMEX IDC in Binh Duong Province, Vietnam,
NTT East has been discussing and studying in conjunction with
its group telecommunications company VNTT and others on
solving social issues through ICT. We are currently expanding
our activities beyond Vietnam; namely, we are working to createbusinesses in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries thatsolve local community issues by combining NTT East’s assets
with those of our local partners.
Many companies in Southeast-Asian countries that possess
ICT technology superior to that of Japan have recently emerged,
and we are working to partner with such companies to solve
Japan’s problems. In conjunction with various partners, we intend
to create new businesses that contribute to the development ofSoutheast Asian countries by utilizing ICT.

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
NICT Space-Timehttps://www.nict.go.jp/en/sts/
Standards Laboratory
Fields of activity: C lock Synchronization
Standardization team

Steps toward Space-Time Synchronization
We are honored to receive this prestigious ITU-AJ
Encouragement Award. Since 2021, NICT Space-time Standards
Laboratory has been actively involved in ITU-R WP5D
standardization activities, such as introducing the concept of“space-time synchronization” as a novel trend in future technology.
Initially unfamiliar with these activities, we cautiously participatedin meetings while learning from colleagues in the standardization
division at NICT.
The importance of space-time synchronization in the context
of the emerging 5G era is becoming more pronounced as the needfor accurate and stable time increases and efficient coordination
between people, objects, and events becomes more crucial. We
propose combining ultra-compact atomic clocks, high-precision
wireless time synchronization, and large-scale network timing
to achieve ubiquitous high-precision time synchronization thatmakes it easier to measure device location.
Despite time synchronization of current mobile device being

accurate to milliseconds, implementing organic coordination
requires synchronization at the nanosecond level, which poses a
significant challenge. Although we acknowledge the difficultyof advancing technological development, market creation,
standardization, and international networking simultaneously,
we are determined to overcome these obstacles with the help ofexperts.
The acceptance of space-time synchronization as a“future technology trend” at the ITU-R WP5D meetingmarks a significant milestone that lays the groundwork for its
implementation. While we recognize we are just at the beginningof this journey, receiving the encouragement award serves as
motivation to persist firmly.
We pledge to continue striving towards promoting
the migration to space-time synchronization, including
standardization efforts, and we express deep gratitude to ourcolleagues at NICT for their indispensable support.

New Breeze Summer 2024

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