■ Takashi Kurimoto, Associate Professor, Information Systems Architecture Science ResearchDivision【Tough, and Flexible—Toward the Ideal Next-Generation Research Network】
Now I am engaged in the network study area, but I did research on atomic and molecular collisions
in my master’s degree program at graduate school. I had made various experiments through theresearch, I started to get the strong feeling that I wanted to do research that would have something
to do with product manufacturing and would actually be used out in the world.
Network technologies were starting to attract attention around this time. The idea of the broadband
network were very exciting and innovative network infrastructure was expected to improve people'slife styles. And I thought it would help fulfill my dreams of being able to work while living on somewarm southern island. So I set my sights on network research. And I joined NTT and began working
at NTT laboratories. This was just after 1990.

Making new social environment through Next-Generation Network
At NTT’s research institute, I worked for research and development of the high-speed, high-capacity
and high reliability network system. After that, I moved to NTT’s business divisions and I wasengaged in deploying the next generation data network which could handle the huge data volumes
economically.
Based on an overarching vision, we conceived the outline and structure of the next-generation
network. The process from conception to realization would take about five years. After it wascompleted, the network was to be used for a long time. This was challenging and very interestingwork. Network development is similar to urban planning. It is started by contemplating the futureand asking where and how many roads are required. And just like as it would be hard to redo a roadconstruction, it is hard to redo a deployed network systems. Therefore network systems have to beused for a long time. However users demand will be changed. Thus some areas of network systems
have to be modified to accommodate changing demands.
So how do we separate the core portion from the flexible portion? This the question was how toseparate

hardware—which

can’tbechanged

easilybut

isgreat

atlarge-scale

data

communications—from software—which has the flexibility to accommodate various new functions,but which isn’t so proficient at large-scale data communications. Another was how to meet thediverse requirements of customers for high security, easy handling of large-volume data, minimal
delays in monetary transactions, and so on. There was no end to the challenges involved.

Pioneering the Future of International Research with NII’s SINET
What I work on at NII is SINET, an academic network that links universities and research
institutions. The network links universities and research institutions and allows them to shareexperimental data, and data from research institutions is forwarded to universities for analysis—thenetwork is used in various ways. At particle research facilities like KAMIOKANDE and for a radio
telescope astronomy project that involves researchers from several countries, dozens to hundreds ofgigabytes of data have to be transferred within a second. There’s no way to do this without a network
capable of sending and receiving large volumes of data at high speed.
The people and institutions connected to the network aren’t limited to Japan. With the new SINET
set to launch in 2016, virtual intra-research-project networks between, for example, Japan, the US,and Germany, can be created whenever they’re needed, and we can also embed systems that enable
data transfers on demand requirements and functions that enable this across multiple countries. Ithink this will prove beneficial for international experimental research.
Up to this point, my research and development activities have involved practical applications.
Networks are next to useless if they are not used. I listen to what people need and develop things tomeet those needs. I think it’s great when those things are put into an application for a useful purpose.
Of course, we also need to carefully consider cost and feasibility issues, but I hope to be able tocontinue doing practical research to meet everyone’s increasingly sophisticated needs and, ultimately,
to create things that can be used.

(Article researched and organized by Yoshiko Miwa)