Special Feature

Achieving “Resonance of Knowledge”–NTT’s R&D strategy to provide the basis for its envisaged resonant communications–

Yuji Inoue, Senior Vice President,
Director, Department III, NTT
Abstract
This paper describes “NTT’s R&D Strategy for Realizing the Vision
for a New Optical Generation” presented by Yuji Inoue, Senior Vice
President, Director, Department III, NTT, at the “NTT R&D Forum2002 in Musashino” held in November 2002.

1. Bringing RENA to reality“The Vision for a New Optical Generation [1]”,announced on November 25, 2002, looks five years
into the future, envisioning enhancements to personal
security and quality of life, together with new ways of
conducting business, in an age of ubiquitous broadband services supported by optical technology. Thisvision is intended to serve as a universal concept
shared by NTT Group companies and to act as a
guideline for the group’s business direction. Here at
NTT Laboratories, we are focusing our efforts on realizing a “resonant” communication network environment, nicknamed “RENA” (for resonant communication network architecture), which will become thedevelopment platform for a variety of sophisticatednew services, leading to new business opportunities.
2. Impacts of NTT’s Successive Visions
In October 1996, NTT announced its R&D objectives under the umbrella of “NTT to Provide Innovative R&D Geared to the 21st Century.” This agenda
was based on three pillars: an Electrum Cyber Society, Megamedia, and a Photonic Network. In the
Megamedia Initiative, NTT declared that it would“accelerate its R&D with the target of offering, by theyear 2005, a next-generation multimedia network service which could deliver a transmission speed of 10
Mb/s for around 10,000 yen per month.” At that time,

18

56-kilobit-per-second (56K) modems had not yet hit
the market, and most people were still using 28.8K
modems. Combine that situation with the monthly feeof 980,000 yen for the 6-Mbit/s OCN always-on service that came on stream the following year (1997)
and it is not surprising that not only the mass media
but also some people inside NTT operating companies were openly skeptical about this declaration.
NTT Laboratories later reaffirmed this objective inthe “Global Information Sharing Business in the 21stCentury”, announced in October 1998.
As if to challenge the skepticism, the monthly fee
was reduced to 18,450 yen in the “optical IP communication” trial optical access service launched by NTT
at the end of December 2000. When the commercial
B-Flet’s service began operating in August 2001, themonthly charge, which included an ISP service fee,
was further slashed to as low as 6500 yen–beating
NTT’s declared target date by four years! To top that
achievement, a 100-Mbit/s service started up last June
(2002) with a monthly fee of only 7300 yen.
The target declared some seven years ago was truly
challenging at the time (Fig. 1), but the apparent hurdles were cleared steadily and much sooner than had
been anticipated. Although this was not due solely tothe results achieved by the Laboratories, but also
owes greatly to the tremendous efforts made by people in the operating companies, it stands as a signal
example of the effectiveness of establishing a bold
and innovative objective.

NTT Technical Review

Special Feature

3. Establishing objectives for R&D: Looking
ahead to 2005

external attack.
In the field of fundamental technologies for services, as a first priority, we plan to develop naturaland high-quality video collaboration services capableof handling multiple languages by 2005. Although it
is extremely difficult to achieve automatic translationon the semantic level, we believe that considerable
progress can be made toward an acceptable level oftranslation if the translation is text-based, and if thenumber of languages is kept manageable.
We will also drive R&D on i) technology that

NTT Laboratories has established fresh objectives
for realizing the “Vision for a New Optical Generation” and will pursue them vigorously. Some of the
key R&D objectives are shown in Fig. 2. For RENA,
we aim to build NTT’s next-generation networkarchitecture, which is the nucleus of the Vision, by2005. This network will provide high-quality end-toend communication that is highly secure against

2002: Vision for a New Optical Generation
1998: Information Sharing Concept

2000: 6M one-way

1996: Megamedia Initiative

1996 1997

1998 1999

2000

2001 2002

2003 2004

New objectives

2005:
10 Mbit/s
10,000 yen/month

2005

2006

2007…2010

Apr. 1997: OCN (6 Mbit/s) 0.98 million yen＊1/monthDec. 2000: Optical IP network service(10 Mbit/s) 18,450 yen＊2/month

Status in 1996
• Dial-up connection at 28.8
kbit/s using analog
modems prevailed

Aug. 2001: B-FLET’S (10 Mbit/s) 6500 yen＊3/monthJun. 2002: B-FLET’S (100 Mbit/s) 7300 yen＊4/month• Number of bulletin board
service users leveled off at
5 million• ISDN subscribers totaled 1
million (Dec.)• OCN service started (Dec.)＊1: OCN Enterprise (inc. ISP charge); OCN Economy for 128 kbit/s: 38,000 yen/month＊2: 13,000 yen + ISP charge of 5450 yen (Plala)＊3: B-FLET’S Family type: 5000 yen + ISP charge of 1500 yen (Plala)＊4: B-FLET’S New Family (NTT EAST): 5800 yen + ISP charge of 1500 yen (Plala)(Ref.) Sep. 2002 B-FLET’S Family 100 (NTT WEST) : 4300 yen + ISP charge of 1500 yen (Plala)Fig. 1. Impacts of NTT’s Visions.

RENA
Core technologies
for service provision(collaboration)

2003

2004

Provide best-effort
communication withreliable connectivity

Provide high quality
end-to-end
communication

Provide high-quality end-to-end communication, highly
secure against attacks from outside

Provide basic
capabilities for
multi-point AV
communication

Achieve natural dialog
through high-quality
videosAchieve natural, high-quality video collaboration handling
multiple languages

2005

Advanced collaboration work
enables sharing of the same meeting table wherever you may be

Multi-lingual
text translation

No leaking ofvoice/informationfrom the meeting

お
あい うえ
こ
かき くけ
さし …

Erase images/sounds
that one does not wantto convey

ab cd efg hij
klm no pq
rstu…

Multi-point high-quality video conference

Fig. 2. R&D goals targeted for 2005.

Vol. 1 No. 1 Apr. 2003

19

Special Featureallows a person to conduct a tele- or video-conference
from his or her own desk without ambient noise (e.g.,sounds from adjacent workstations) reaching theonline participants in the conference and ii) image
processing technology that enables a person to erase,
in real time, images that he or she does not want others to see.

4. Key strategic R&D areas
If we look at the “Vision for a New Optical Generation” from the viewpoint of making R&D a vehicle
for driving the NTT group’s business, we can identify three important R&D areas: fundamental technologies for the provision of new services, network① Fundamental technologies for providing new services
AuthenLocation
Presence Billing tication Security control

Service control platform

RENA② Network
infrastructure③ Leading-edge technologies

Fig. 3. Key strategic R&D areas.

② Secure electronic-value sharing technology forachieving end-to-end P2P e-commerce easily andsafelyPresence③ Wireless tag and sensor technology for tracking
trillions of “things,” bringing innovation to
distribution

Billing

Authen- Security Position
ticationcontrolService control platform• Telework• Tele-education

Real-timecommunication

RENA

M2M＊ communication

P2P communication• eSCM• Recycling• Health care overthe Internet• Personal businessover the Internet① Advanced collaboration technology that supports cooperative work within and between
a variety of communities or corporations＊ M2M: Machine to Machine

Fig. 4. Fundamental technologies for providing new services.

20

NTT Technical Review

Special Feature*1 Multiplizing of individuals: a term we have coined to mean that
one individual can simultaneously play multiple roles, which will
work to turn latent knowledge, hidden from others, into knowledge visible to others.

gy”, which embraces communication not only
between people but also between “things” (M2M:
machine-to-machine communication) (③ in Fig. 4).
For example, a wireless tag could be attached toevery PET bottle (this is not a pipe-dream if extremely cheap wireless tags can be developed). Then, we
equip pavement trash bins with receivers that canread the wireless tags, thereby enabling the bins toprompt passers to deposit their empty drink bottles inthose bins. Using the same principle, PET bottles canbe automatically identified and separated from a pileof miscellaneous garbage. This would benefit communities by making recycling systems more efficientand effective.
These concepts are just the tip of the iceberg. NTT
will drive its R&D on fundamental technologies forproviding new services with potential for broad
application.
Toward “resonance of knowledge”
A conceivable axis for the direction of technological development is a mechanism of exchanging“knowledge.” Knowledge circulation and interaction
are schematically depicted in three developmental
stages in Fig. 5.
The first stage is the exchange of knowledge
between specific individuals by such means as email
and Internet chat lines. Since these are bilateral onedimensional relationships, we can call this kind of

Resonance of knowledge

One-dimensional relation

Two-dimensional architecture

Three-dimensional space (limitless)

Until now

Now

5 years from now

Capability

Trading of knowledge

Exchange of knowledge
between specificindividuals

Activity over the Net ofmatching and barteringknowledge

Creation of new values throughorganic and distributed
collaboration between humans,
things and information

ExamplesExchange of knowledge• Email• EChat• Trading on EC/auction sites• Matching in BBS• Net games• Cross-industrial collaboration• Individual-enterprise collaboration• Net business between individuals

Volume of values circulated over the Internet

infrastructure (i.e., next-generation network architecture: RENA), and leading-edge technologies looking
ahead ten years from now. Our ongoing R&D will
focus on these three areas (Fig. 3).
Fundamental technologies for the provision of
new services
The first fundamental technology earmarked forproviding new services is “advanced collaboration
technology” that supports cooperative work bothwithin and between various communities or corporations in a way that will promote the “multiplizing ofindividuals*1.” We aim to develop systems that willtransform human interaction through telecommunication beyond the conventional framework of videoconferencing, and make it adaptable to a wide variety
of situations (① in Fig. 4).
Next is technology for “sharing electronic value.”
In conventional e-commerce, client-server systems
have been used to build e-marketplaces. Our objective is to develop a network that can be used securely
and simply for P2P (peer-to-peer) e-commerce (② inFig. 4).
Then there is “wireless tag-and-sensor technolo-

PersonThing
InfoFig. 5. Three stages toward “resonance of knowledge.”Vol. 1 No. 1 Apr. 2003

21

Special Feature

mechanism an “exchange of knowledge.”
The second stage includes e-commerce, trading
through Net auction sites, and online gaming in theirpresent forms. This can be represented as a twodimensional architecture consisting of a hub andspokes. Let’s call this “trading of knowledge.”
The final stage is what we are aiming for in a “resonant” communication environment. This is the stage
where “resonance of knowledge” takes place. Not
only people but also objects and items of information
are organically linked to each other in a three-dimensional space, which is a potentially limitless space notachievable through a hub-and-spoke architecture.
Specific models of the third stage will vary depending on each application area. Let’s take a hypotheticalexample of collaboration in the area of personal pastimes, rather than the world of corporate business.
In music, we find the concept of the “jam session,”
which is an impromptu performance by a spontaneously formed group of usually jazz musicians, who
decide on the spot what music to play and how to playit. In the same way, it should be possible to create avirtual “live venue,” in which various people on the
network collaborate to perform a Net “jam session.”
We can imagine a situation like this: Mr. A ishooked up to the network and playing piano. Ms. B is
playing bass at a different location. Mr. C is singing
somewhere else. Ms. D is mixing all these parts in herhome studio and delivering the result over the network for anyone to listen to. Then, a metronome connected to the network may autonomously discover
this session and begin to beat time, and a recorder on
the Net may record this performance and convert it
into a score or a midi file.
We still have to overcome many technical issues tomake this kind of Net jam session a reality. NTT is
undertaking R&D on a range of fundamental technologies to provide these new kinds of network services.
Next-generation network architecture (RENA)
In the area of next-generation network architecture,
our main R&D target is to build a network which canprovide secure, interactive, real-time, end-to-end con-

② Network economization using WDM
and a large-capacity photonic backbone
network① Network architecture for providing secure,
end-to-end services

End-to-end
real-time connection’s network/
Other companyl network
internationa

G
W
H
G
W

RENA
G
W
H
G
W

User network

G
W

G
W

Corporate user network
Home
Office③ Networks that can be used anytime andanywhere irrespective of the means ofaccess or terminals available

Outside office

Corporateuser network④ Highly-value-added network
services that permit various
levels of quality and reliability

Fig. 6. Next-generation network architecture: RENA.

22

NTT Technical Review

Special Featurenectivity (① in Fig. 6). Once broadband services arein widespread use, there will be an “explosion” in thevolume of information used by each customer, andthe backbone network will have to be able to handle
information on the order of terabits per second. By
developing optical wavelength division multiplexing(WDM) technology, and technology for building alarge-capacity photonic backbone network, we canfurther reduce the network cost, so that services canbe provided at reasonable rates (② in Fig. 6).
Network services that can be used anywhere, irrespective of the means of access or terminals available, will constitute the nucleus of future ubiquitous
services (③ in Fig. 6). We will be concentrating considerable effort into the development of highly usable
services, which can be accessed anytime and anywhere from diverse types of terminals, and which willallow each customer to use the network according tohis or her specific usage environment.
Another imperative is the provision of high-valueadded network services that permit varied levels of
quality and reliability depending on the requirements
of individual users (④ in Fig. 6). In particular, business users will increasingly demand network services
with guaranteed security and quality.
Future progress in information communication
technology
Figure 7 shows how information communication
technology is expected to progress. For example, we
are aiming at high-speed wireless access at a rate of 1
Gbit/s five years from now. This is a really challenging rate. If the price of that PET bottle wireless tag

can be whittled down to 5 yen within the next five
years, I would expect wireless tags to be attached to asignificant number of products.
Leading-edge technology looking ahead 10
years from now
The above-mentioned network and network service
technologies must be backed by advances in basic
and leading-edge technologies. Research subjects ofleading-edge technologies can be plotted on a planeof two axes: overcoming the barrier of communication technology and overcoming the barrier of network technology. Let me introduce some results fromjust a few of the many wide-ranging leading-edge
technologies (Fig. 8).
Our aim is to use leading-edge technology to overcome a variety of “barriers” to communication. The
first of these is a “language barrier.” Language processing technology will form the nucleus for the previously mentioned collaboration involving multiple
languages. A computer, as it stands, cannot understand speech. No dialog with a computer can takeplace without running a variety of programs forspeech recognition, speech understanding, etc. NTT
has long pursued R&D on language processing. This
work has progressed to the stage of interpreting
meanings based on context and background information. As a result, it is now possible for a computer anda human to conduct a dialog. Our ultimate goal is asystem in which a computer receives intellectual
information from a human, interprets it, and respondsin an appropriate manner based on the most likely
behavior pattern.

3 years from now

5 years from now

High speed(in quantity)

Core network: 100 Tbit/s
Access: 1 Gbit/s
Wireless: 100 Mbit/s
Memory: 50 GB

Core network: several Pbit/s
Access: 10 Gbit/s
Wireless: 1 Gbit/s
Memory: 100 GB

Advanced(more reality)

Quality guarantee
Real-time end-to-end communication

Intelligent interface
Autonomous distributed network

Seamless(anywhere)

Seamless service within an operator(wired/wireless)Seamless service
between operators

Ubiquitous(anything)

Diversified terminals(non-PC terminal, Home gateway)

Widespread use of wireless tags
(5 yen each)High security(no anxiety)High-performance bio-authentication

Automatic restoration type defense
Tracking information source

Fig. 7. Future trends in information communication technology.

Vol. 1 No. 1 Apr. 2003

23

Special Feature

Overcoming
communication barriersInterpretation of meanings
based on understandingof context/background

LanguagebarrierIntelligent information
summary/answering

Overcoming network
technology barriers
Transmission
speed barrier

Photonic router

Processing
speed barrier

Quantum computer
Bio/molecular device

Capacity barrier

Hologram memory

Digital cinema

Free multi-modal dialogue
Media/sensory
barrier

Information
quantitybarrier

Clarification of visual/auditory sensing
mechanism
Integrated searching ofvirtual and real worldPower
consumption
barrierSingle electron device
Integrated circuit

Security barrier

Quantum encryption

Fig. 8. Leading-edge technologies ten years from now.

The second barrier is a “media and sensory barrier.”
For example, humans recognize three-dimensional
objects by processing the azimuth difference information in the brain, but we have gradually found thathuman visual sense is not as simple as that. In our
research into the mechanism of this sense, we are trying to understand the error mechanism that is present
in it and to apply that knowledge to information compression and encoding technology.
The third barrier is an “information quantity barrier.” For example, if a person is asked whether there isa vase in the room, he or she can just look around andgive a correct answer, immediately. If you ask thesame question of a computer, which is based onsequential calculation, it cannot answer as easily. We
are conducting research into algorithms for quickly
finding a requested object from among a large volume of information.
Under the theme of “overcoming the barriers of
network technology,” we are accelerating our R&D
to overcome the barriers to communication speed,
processing speed, capacity, power consumption,
security, etc. For example, to overcome the barrier toprocessing speed, we are conducting R&D on thebasic technology for quantum computing. Although aquantum computer will not be available any timesoon, computation using quantum effects has beenachieved at the laboratory level. Although this computer can do only simple arithmetic at this stage,some people believe that it will be possible to develop a computer one trillion times faster than what wecurrently have.
24

5. Comprehensive producer function
In order to traverse the “Valley of Death” that lies
between basic research and commercial development, we will introduce a “comprehensive producer
function” within the NTT holding company. This will
operate as a mechanism for facilitating efficient,practical commercialization of the fruits of R&D(Fig. 9).
NTT Laboratories have a large repository of wideranging elemental technologies. The comprehensive
producer function will explore various ways of combining these technologies with those already in themarket, with the objective of translating them into
commercial products and services. The extent of therequired integration efforts will not be limited towithin the NTT group, and may include allianceswith other corporations and organizations. We hope
to move ahead through a variety of beneficial partnerships, based on positive cooperation as well as fairand friendly competition.
6. Looking at the future
In pursuing the “Vision for a New Optical Generation,” NTT will base its R&D program on the following four strategic principles:• Further refining fundamental technology priorities,
clarifying who will be responsible for each development project, and liaising more closely with
operating companies on each project;• Exploring new business opportunities by applying
NTT Technical Review

Special Feature

Needs ofNTT group companies

Off-the-shelftechnology/productHolding company

Off-the-shelftechnology/productAlliance

Comprehensive
producer function

Off-the-shelftechnology/product⁝Applied R&D ingroup companies

NTT Laboratories

Leading-edge research
Leading-edge
research
Leading-edge
research

Core technology
development
Core technology
development• Expert assessment• Research/analysis ofmarket/technology trends• Marketing• Planning/proposal
for development• Market creation

Commercial
development

Commercial
introduction

Market trends

Fig. 9. Comprehensive producer function.

the fruits of R&D even to those areas not related tocommunication;• Emphasizing basic research on leading-edge technology, and enhancing the motivation of researchers;• Introducing a comprehensive producer function tostimulate the flow of R&D results to business, andexploring advanced business opportunities in open
alliances with customers.
As mentioned above, we will efficiently overcome
the “Valley of Death” lying between basic researchand commercial development and link R&D results
to business, by narrowing down technical development areas to those that will constitute our core competence and by strengthening liaison with operatingcompanies for commercial development. We also
hope to cultivate new business opportunities in areas
not covered by NTT’s current business. From among
the wide-ranging basic technologies for which wehave expertise, we will place priority on those technical development projects that will sow the seeds offuture business opportunities for the NTT Group.
Basic research is the lifeblood of NTT’s R&D. While
many communication carriers worldwide have
moved to concentrate on commercial development,
NTT will continue to retain sufficient resources forbasic research. In this area, we will aim at advancing
Japanese science and technology and training andencouraging young researchers. By taking full advantage of the comprehensive producer function, we will
form open alliances with customers to explore
Vol. 1 No. 1 Apr. 2003

advanced types of business. We are committed toensuring that the R&D results produced through ourefforts to realize the “Vision for a New Optical Generation” give NTT Group businesses a competitiveedge and contribute to the further development ofsociety and the economy at large.
Reference[1] N. Wada, “Vision for a New Optical Generation—Broadband Leading to the World of Resonant Communication—,” NTT Technical
Review, Vol.1, No.1, pp. 6-17, 2003.

25