ISSN 0915-3160

平成三十年四月十日発行（年四回一、四、七、十月の十日発行）通巻百十八号

No.

2

Vol. 30 April 2018
Spring

New Breeze

S pec i a l Feat u ree-Services at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics

e-Services at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics
Digital Signage

Brand-new Sport Viewing Style by Immersive Live Experience (ILE) and
Its Standardization Status
Multilingual Speech Translation
Accessibility Standardization

New Breeze Vol. 30 No.2 Spring

New Breeze

April 2018

C O N T E N T S

ISSN 0915-3160

Quarterly of The ITU Association of JapanBN Gyoen Bldg., 1-17-11 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku,
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		 Special Feature — e-Services at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics
1

e-Services at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics

5

Brand-new Sport Viewing Style by Immersive Live Experience (ILE)and Its Standardization Status

2

9

Editorial Committee

13

Chairman: Wataru Kameyama
Members: Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications, Association of Radio Industries
and Businesses, Communication Line Products
Association of Japan, Fujitsu Limited, Hitachi, Ltd.,
Japan Broadcasting Corporation,
KDDI CORPORATION, Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation, National Institute of Information andCommunications Technology, NEC Corporation,
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONECORPORATION, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.,
Panasonic Corporation, Softbank Corp.,
Sony Corporation,
The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association,
The Telecommunication Technology Committee,
and TOSHIBA CORPORATION

Digital Signage

Multilingual Speech Translation
Accessibility Standardization

		Column
18= A Serial Introduction Part 3=
Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2017

Publisher: Michiaki Ogasawara
Editors:

Junichi Kishimoto
Kaori Ohno
Naoko Ishida

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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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e-Services at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics

Hideki Yamamoto

Senior Manager
Network Systems Division, ICT Business Division
Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

When this article is published in February 2018, the 23rd
Winter Olympic Games will be happening in PyeongChang, in
our neighboring country, South Korea. The much anticipatedTokyo Olympics and Paralympics will be held two years and fivemonths later, in July 2020. In preparation for the Olympics andParalympics, various hospitality initiatives throughout Japan are
currently in progress.
One such hospitality initiative is to develop new e-services
using ICT technology. These are not so-called black-box services,
but will be provided as services using open products. In particular,
the technologies needed to implement these e-services are openfrom the early stages, not only through demonstrations andtesting, but also through open system functionality and interface
requirements, and discussion at international standardization
meetings. Through discussion in such international venues froman early stage, we hope to develop these technologies globally inthe future.
This special feature focuses on work being done in ITU-T
SG16 to standardize e-services, and in particular, e-services
related to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
In the first article, Rapporteur of the question under study on
digital signage (Q14/16), Mr. Kazunori Tanikawa from NEC, will
introduce initiatives related to digital signage. Standardization ofdigital signage is proceeding as a means to provide information
outdoors, on Olympic and Paralympic competitions and also on
tourism and disasters, if needed.
The second article, titled “New style of sports watching by
Immersive Live Experience (ILE) and its standardization status,”
was contributed by Mr. Hideo Imanaka, from NTT Advanced
Technology and Mr. Yoshihide Tonomura and Mr. Kiyoshi
Tanaka from the NTT Service Evolution Laboratories. They

work on standardization for question under study on Immersive
Live Experience (ILE) (Q8/16), which can provide realistic
remote viewing that is almost like being at the sports venue ortheatre. The fundamental parts of this technology have alreadybeen standardized, and technical standards for international
interconnectivity will be standardized in the future.
In the third article, the history and current state ofstandardization for multilingual speech translation are describedby Mr. Shoichi Senda, from the National Institute of Information
and Communication Technology (NICT). He describes how an
R&D group was formed in Asia, lead by Japan, and later, anotherat the international level through the ITU-T, together with theefforts, achievements, and future prospects of these pioneers.
The final article, regarding accessibility, was written by Prof.
Masahito Kawamori from Keio University, who is Rapporteurof question under study on accessibility—making it easier fordisabled and elderly people to access information (Q26/16). Since
the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006, it is increasing
in importance in countries around the world. This article gives
an overview of standardization efforts in Q26, not limited to theTokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
We expect to accelerate standardization efforts in the future,
towards realization of standardized hospitality e-services for the
Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. At ITU-T SG16, we will also
continue to work on standardization for other new e-services
not discussed in this special feature, such as e-health, Intelligent
Transport Systems (ITS), IPTV, and digital financial systems.
We invite all those interested to participate in discussion regarding
standardization of new e-services and other issues.

New Breeze Spring 2018

1

Digital Signage

Kazunori Tanikawa

Manager
Telecommunication Business Unit
NEC Corporation

1. SG16 Question under Study 14 “Digital
Signage”
ITU-T SG16 Question under Study 14 (Q14/16) is a relatively
new question under study, established at the previous session(2013-2016) with the research theme of “Digital Signage”. The
question chairman (Rapporteur), Kazunori Tanikawa (NEC),and Associate Rapporteur, Shin-Gak Kang (ETRI, Korea) havebeen promoting standardization as an e-service for presenting
information, mainly outdoors. The current work items are shownin Table 1.

2. Digital Signage and the Tokyo Olympics/
Paralympics
Many participants and spectators will be visiting Tokyo for
the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and digital signage is
expected to be used as a means of providing a wide range of
information services out-of-doors, including notices and warnings
regarding sporting events, tourism information, and disaster
information in the event of emergency. “Demonstration of disasterand other information provision according to multi-language
and other attributes using digital signage” was conducted as partof the 2016 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
project, “Research contracts regarding regional demonstrations
for implementing an IoT hospitality environment.” It included
discussion of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and the results
have been published as the Digital Signage Consortium (DSC)
Operational Guidelines. (http://www.digital-signage.jp/).
In Table 1, the draft recommendations H.DS-PISR,“Service requirements and a reference model on information

services in public places via an interoperable service platform,”and H.DS-FIS, “Framework for interactive service,” were work
items proposed by Japan as a base for these guidelines. H.DSPSR handles requirements for establishing a common operating
platform for digital signage, so that information of consistentquality can be provided efficiently and reliably in a multi-vendor,
multi-operator environment. H.DS-FIS describes a framework
for advanced information services beyond conventional one-way
presentation of information by information providers on largescreen displays, linking smartphones to digital signage systems
and responding to the characteristics and demands of individuals.
HSTP.DS-WDS “Technical Paper on Digital signage: Webbased digital signage,” is also important regarding linking withsmartphones, so this study is proceeding while exchanging
information with W3C, in order to realize a lightweight, richly
expressive implementation using Web technologies such as the
widely available HTML5.

3. Discussion overview
The SG16 meeting was held from October 12 to 16, 2017 in
China (Macau), and the Q14/16 deliberation topics are introduced
below.
The objective of this meeting was to complete H.782“Metadata” (previous abbreviation: H.DS-META), so there
were two intervening meetings (teleconferences) to movetoward completion, and in this meeting, deliberation focused
chief ly on consistency between this specification and related
recommendations, and on revising wording. Consent was received
at the SG16 Plenary meeting. The basic service specifications■ Table 1: Q14/16 Work items
H.DS-AM

Code

Title
Digital signage: Audience measurement

H.DS-ASM
H.DS-CASF

Digital signage: Metadata for alerting services
Common Alerting Service Framework for Digital Signage

H.DS-DCI
H.DS-FIS

Digital signage: Display device control interface
Digital signage: Framework for interactive service

H.DS-PISR

Digital signage: Service requirements and a reference model on
information services in public places via an interoperable service platform
Technical Paper on Digital signage: Use-cases regarding interactive
servicesTechnical Paper on Digital signage: Web-based digital signage

HSTP.DS-Gloss
HSTP.DS-WDS

2New Breeze Spring 2018

EditorM. Huh (ETRI),
H. Yamamoto (OKI)
M. Huh (ETRI)
M. Huh, W. Hyun,
H. Park (ETRI)
S. Kang, C. Lee (ETRI)
K. Tanaka (NTT),
S. Kwon, S. Kang (ETRI)
K. Tanikawa (NEC)
H. Kim (ETRI), K. Tanaka (NTT)S. Kwon (ETRI),
K. Tanaka (NTT)■ Table 2: Basic service metadata
Category
Terminal linking

Summary
Terminal initialization data, specifications, and operating state.

Connected device related

External devices connected to dedicated terminals

Content

Content data for presentation

ServerPlaylists

Information regarding various servers
Content display sequencing information

Play logs

Terminal operation data history

Schedules

Data distribution schedule management information

for digital signage (mainly one-way information presentationfrom service provider to viewer on dedicated digital signage
terminals) are summarized in H.780 “Service Requirements”,
H.781 “Architecture”, and H.782, which is discussed here. The
basic service metadata is categorized as indicated in Table 2.
As mentioned above, H.DS-PISR is an important discussion
theme for Japanese participants, introducing a usage concept
for the Interoperable Service Platform that is now under

Metadata example
TerminalId, Location, TerminalStatus,
DisplayInformation, CapabilityList, etc.
InteractiveDeviceID, Type, Status,
EventDataType, EventAction
ContentId, Title, Synopsis, KeywordList, Genre,
MimeType, Productiondate, etc.
ServerId, Location, Password, etc.
PlayListId, Priority, PlayOrder, ContentIDRef,
TargetRegion, Duration, etc.
LogItemType, ContentIdRef, PlayStatus,
StartDateTime, Duration, etc.
ScheduleId, PublicationDateTime,
SendDateTime, DeliveryMethod, etc.

consideration. Figure 1 presents a concept in which, in theupper part of the figure, original data is sent from information
sources, in the center it is converted to a common format by
the Interoperable Service Platform, and is then distributed to
dedicated digital signage terminals or terminals owned by viewers.
It also shows the potential for use in combination with external
cloud services.
In the figure, data is sent directly to terminals through the■ Figure 1: Concept of Interoperable Service Platform

New Breeze Spring 20183

■ Figure 2: Collection of audience information

service platform, but to this point, most of the study has focusedon having content converted by the service platform and thensent back to the systems of each service operator, who will thendistribute it to their terminals.
At the previous meeting, H.DS-PIS was treated as arequirements document, but at this meeting, Japan submitted
additional high-level system requirements ref lecting thecontent of the guidelines mentioned earlier, as well as metadata
specifications, and these were approved. System requirements
needing consideration include specifications for terminal Push
notification services. Metadata needing consideration includes
data shared between Interoperable Service Platform and service
providers and required for content conversion, such as content
creation and creator data. It is also expected that guidanceservices will use requests from viewers and attributes from theirsmartphones (language type, terminal type, etc.), so requirements
for the handling of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) werealso added. These were based on Recommendation X.1058, issued
by ITU-T SG 17, which handles cross-disciplinary security issues.
The document is to be completed at the next SG16 meeting, in
July.
H.DS-AM “Audience Measurement”, examines requirements,
system functionality and metadata for gathering information about
digital signage viewers, such as the number of viewers and staying
times. As shown in Figure 2, collection of audience information isconsidered an additional functionality for digital signage (dottedlines). It is based on the H.741 series of specifications alreadyreleased, on collection of IPTV viewer data. This meeting focused
discussion on overall consistency of specifications and defining
terminology. The document is also to be completed at the next
SG16 meeting.

4

New Breeze Spring 2018

4. Future plans
Two intervening teleconference meetings, in March andMay, are planned before the next SG16 meeting, to work toward
completion of H.DS-PISR, H.DS-AM, and H.DS-DCI. We
are anticipating that the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will
provide an opportunity to raise awareness of digital signage as apublic resource, and we need to study and organize use cases andsystem specifications toward advanced use of this resource. We
continue to look forward to active participation from Japan in therelevant fields.

Cover Art
Ichikawa Ebizou(Picture of kabuki actor
Ichikawa Ebizou (1833).
It is said that heis playing the role ofToba no Houou (11031156).)

Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865)

Collection of the Art Research Center(ARC)
Ritsumeikan University
Object number: arcUY0198

Brand-new Sport Viewing Style by Immersive Live Experience(ILE) and Its Standardization Status
Hideo Imanaka

Senior Expert Engineer
Business Intelligenceand AI center,
NTT Advanced Technology

Yoshihide Tonomura

Senior Research Engineer
NTT Service Evolution
Laboratories,
Nippon Telegraph andTelephone Corporation

1. Introduction
For large scale sports events like the Olympics andParalympics, and the World Cups of Soccer and Rugby, beyond
being at the venue itself, it has become popular to be able to seelive coverage from many countries around the world. Sports
events can also be viewed remotely, through theatre distribution
services called public viewings or live viewings, giving a feelingof togetherness with other spectators similar to actually beingat the event venue. However, current services such as video
distribution do no more than display the image on a large screen,
and it is difficult to achieve immersiveness or highly-realistic
sensations remotely. There is much anticipation for more realistic
public viewings and live viewings, which will provide immersive
experiences more like actually being at the venue, for the 2020
Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
Recently emerging technologies utilizing head mounted
displays (HMD), such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality(AR), and a combination of these called mixed reality (MR),are starting to be used to provide a variety of highly immersive
entertainment. These technologies could potentially be used toprovide a more immersive sports viewing experience, like actually
being in the crowd and cheering on the players. Although wearing
an HMD to enjoy such a presentation individually would also be
good, it may be difficult to achieve the sense of unity of watching
and cheering together with other spectators, as at a public viewing.
Wearing an HMD also makes it difficult to enjoy other aspects
essential to watching and cheering, such as having a beer at a
baseball game.
Immersive Live Experience (ILE) technologies have beenstudied to realize more realistic, immersive public and live
viewings. Beyond just high-definition video and high-quality
multi-channel audio, 5th generation (5G) mobile and high-speed
broadband communication networks could be used to transmit
a variety of data with low latency, such as positions and sizesof players and production data (lighting, vibration, etc.), and toprovide new styles of sports viewing through ILE.
This article introduces examples of new sports viewing styles
using ILE, and the status of international standardization efforts
toward realizing such systems at ITU-T SG16.

Kiyoshi Tanaka

Senior Research Engineer,
Supervisor
NTT Service Evolution
Laboratories,
Nippon Telegraph andTelephone Corporation

the game at the same time, and can also provide benefits thatcannot be realized with live viewing, using production effects.
NTT Laboratories’ Kirari! immersive telepresence technology
uses multiple ultra-high resolution video images and high-quality
sound with efficient compression and synchronous transmission toreconstruct a pseudo-3D video representation of the 3D space. It
has demonstrated ability to maintain a highly-realistic sensation ofpresence, even in environments such as public viewings.
2.2 Proof of Concept with table tennis viewing
In a table tennis demonstration, the system was used toreconstruct the space of the actual venue very realistically using
pseudo-3D images of the players mapped onto a real table-tennis
table at the remote site, and positioning the sound images at thelocations of the corresponding objects. Figure 1 is an example withthe table-tennis match projected into the space using ILE. In thisexample, a real table and a real master of ceremonies (MC) are
shown with pseudo-3D images of the players mapped over them.
2.3 Live coverage of Karate
In another example, live coverage of a karate competition
was given by extracting images and sound in real time andtransmitting them synchronously to the remote location. Figure 2
shows an example of remote live coverage distribution of a karate“Enbu” competition using ILE. Images of the performance by
the player at the competition venue are extracted in real time
(separating the image of the player from the background), images
and sound from multiple cameras are sent synchronously to theremote viewing site, and all are presented as live coverage. A
pseudo-3D image of the karate athlete was shown at the viewing
location, together with simultaneous images centered on the face
■ Figure 1: An example with the table-tennis matchprojected into the space using ILE

2. Brand-new sport viewing style through ILE
2.1 Sharing the excitement
The demand for access to global-scale sporting events throughpublic viewings is growing. This style of viewing promises new
synergistic effects due to having like-minded spectators watching

New Breeze Spring 20185

■ Figure 2: An example of remote live coverage distribution of a karate “Enbu” competition using ILE

and from behind, providing production effects not possible whenviewing at the real venue.

3. The need for and objectives of ILE
standardization
The goal of the brand-new viewing style using ILE is toprovide a realistic viewing experience, like actually being there,
from anywhere in the world. In addition to distributing theexperience to multiple locations simultaneously, ILE can also
connect viewers with each other at the viewing venue, providing
an even stronger sense of togetherness. When implementing
such a system, event organizers are usually different fromoperators of public viewing venues, so an interface specification forinternational media transmission is needed. Spatial informationin addition to the video data from the event location is needed toreproduce the event using pseudo-3D video at the viewing venue
as shown in Figure 3.
■ Figure 3: Example
technologies for realizing ILE

6

New Breeze Spring 2018

MPEG and other standardization bodies have recently
studied standards related to VR, and parts of these standards,
such as image formats, could be applicable for ILE. However,ILE requirements differ from those of VR with an HMD in thatlarge numbers of people are watching. As such, it is essential thatinternational standards for ILE be created, including standards
for international media transmission, so that sports events
can be viewed all over the world. Existing MPEG and otherstandard specifications for media transmission, compression andformats could be used, but international standards on how to use
MPEG specifications (profiles) and interfaces for internationaltransmission of media will need to be created by the ITU-T inorder to realize ILE.

4. Status of ILE standardization at the ITU-T
4.1 Overall ILE standardization trends at SG16
NTT proposed establishing a new Question to study ILE at
the June 2015 meeting of SG16, and it was approved in Octoberat the World Telecommunication Standards Assembly, which
is a general assembly meeting of the ITU-T. Study of ILE
standardization officially began with Question 8 under Study
Group 16 (Q8/16) at the January 2017 meeting of SG16. Notethat Dr. Hideo Imanaka (one of the authors) is the Rapporteur for
Q8/16.
With support from Japan, South Korea, China, and Brazil,
Q8/16 is studying draft Recommendations for ILE service
scenarios, ILE requirements, functional frameworks, and MPEGMedia Transport (MMT) profiles for ILE. To raise awarenessof ILE, three workshops on ILE have also already been heldwith ITU-T members and others, to share information. This
has included the state of VR study at MPEG and DVB (DigitalVideo Broadcast), and prospects for immersive services at NTT,
Fraunhofer (Germany), KT (South Korea), and China Mobile.
4.2 Study of service scenarios
A draft Recommendation summarizing ILE service scenarios(H.ILE-SS) is being studied from a proposal by South Korea.
As shown in Figure 4, several scenarios have been considered,including one which is for viewing live coverage of sporting events.
Other possibilities include entertainment scenarios such as music
concerts and theatre, and telepresence scenarios such as remote
lectures and speeches.
Draft Recommendation H.ILE-SS summarizes ILE service
scenarios from Japan, South Korea, and China, and an appendix
describes concrete use cases and service concepts, including
the Kirari! from NTT. This draft Recommendation is to becompleted before the end of 2018.
4.3 Study of requirements
The definition and requirements for ILE services are
summarized in the ILE requirements draft Recommendation,
H.ILE-Reqs. ILE is defined as follows:
Immersive Live Experience (ILE): the shared viewing
experience which stimulates emotions within audiences atboth the event site and remote sites, as if the ones at remotesites wandered into substantial event site and watched actual
events in front of them, from high-realistic sensations brought
by a combination of multimedia technologies such as sensorial
information acquisition, media processing, media transport, media
synchronization and media presentation.
The current draft Recommendation indicates 13 requirements
for realizing ILE. The main essential requirements are as follows.
• The direction of sound is reproduced at the viewing venue.

■ Figure 4: Examples of ILE service scenarios• The spatial environment is reproduced at the viewing venue.
• Video, sound and spatial information must be synchronized.
• Multiple types of media, such as video, sound and spatial
data, can be processed to reproduce a virtual space at theviewing venue.
The H.ILE-Reqs draft Recommendation is to be completed
before the end of 2018.
The requirements for implementing ILE services will be
studied further in the future.
4.4 Study of functional frameworks
An overall architecture and identification of interfaces
between functional blocks are summarized in the functionalframework draft Recommendation, H.ILE-FW. The overallarchitecture of the ILE system is shown in Figure 5.
The left side of Figure 5 is the Capturing environment, withfunctionality to collect video and sound at the event venue. The
right side is Presentation, with functionality to reconstruct theexperience at the remote viewing site. These two are connectedby the Transport layer, and also placed between them are ILE
Application functions, such as media processing and signal
processing.
Three interfaces are envisioned: between capturing functions
and the transport network, between transport network andpresentation functions, and between transport network and ILE
applications.
Draft Recommendation H.ILE-FW summarizes definitionsof the various functions in the overall architecture in Figure 5
as well as the technical elements that will be needed. This draft
Recommendation is expected to be completed in 2018.
4.5 Study of MMT profiles
One of the main technologies for ILE will be for synchronoustransmission of video, sound and environmental data. MPEG has
already created a specification for synchronous transport, called
MPEG Media Transport (MMT), and this could potentially beapplied to ILE.
The concept of synchronous transport of video, sound andspatial information using MMT is illustrated in Figure 6. With
conventional digital broadcasting using MPEG2-TS, video andsound must be inserted in the same time frame, but with MMT,
video and sound data each contain their own time information, so
they can be transmitted separately. Spatial information and stage
production information such as lighting can also be sent with time
information, making media easy to multiplex.
The purpose of draft Recommendation H.ILE-MMT
is to identify MMT functions needed for ILE services, andto specify how MMT is to be used (profiles). Work to create
the Recommendation began in September 2017 and it is to becompleted in 2019.

New Breeze Spring 20187

■ Figure 5: Overallarchitecture of the ILE system■ Figure 6: Concept of synchronous transport of video, sound and spatial information using MMT

4.6 Future directions for ILE standardization
Standardization of the basic components for ILE
is currently in progress and there are plans to create detailed
technical standards for the MMT profiles and interfaces needed
to implement international interconnectivity for ILE in the
future. Use of standards being studied in other standardization
organizations, for technical elements such as VR, is also being
considered in order to advance standardization work efficiently.

5. Conclusion
This article has summarized the status of international
standardization for ILE, which will enable highly realistic public
viewings of large scale sporting events such as the Olympics and8

New Breeze Spring 2018

Paralympics from anywhere in the world. Through ILE, newviewing styles were proposed for sports, with the goal of providing
a sense of realism and togetherness with other spectators that will
be like watching at the actual event, from anywhere in the world.
ILE itself is a new type of service, and ILE standardization
has only just begun. In order to expand the immersive service
technologies being studied in Japan globally, effort to create
concrete Recommendations for high priority items is necessary, toquickly create Recommendations for requirements and elemental
technologies needed. Use of VR technologies is also a possibility,
so it is hoped that collaboration will be strengthened with MPEG
and other SDO organizations and contribute to standardization
activities from Japan, to realize ILE as early as possible.

Multilingual Speech Translation

Shoichi Senda

Technical Expert
Standardization Promotion Office, Innovation Promotion Department
National Institute of Information and Communication Technology

1. Introduction
Speech communication is the most basic means ofcommunication used by humanity, and telephone services
implementing speech communication have been steadily enhanced
to the point where it is available “anywhere, anytime, and withanyone.” This progress has overcome almost all technical issues
related to “anywhere” and “anytime”, but implementing “withanyone” involves language differences, which are a major obstacle,
and we have not yet reached the point where we can communicate
freely with anyone using speech. Actually implementing an
automatic translation telephone has been a common human
dream since the telephone was invented. Anyone would wantsuch a technology and there have been various attempts and muchresearch in this field, but only now are we beginning to see that it
could become practical soon.
With the opening of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics,
ever increasing numbers of foreign visitors are expected and there
is hope that, improving multilingual speech translation technology
to a sufficiently practical level, promoting it, and implementing itin society, will facilitate communication with visitors and enable
them experience Japanese hospitality directly.

R&D started in many countries, and an awareness of theneed for standard interfaces and data formats grew, to ensureintercompatibility of their work. In particular, the Asian Speech
Translation Advanced Research Consortium (A-STAR) was
organized in 2006, centered on national research agencies fromsix Asian countries having many official languages within theirregions. The Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Standardization
Program (ASTAP) also began standardization activities.
Before long, it became clear that this standardization activity
at ASTAP should be done globally, and not be limited to theAsia-Pacific region, so activity was moved to ITU-T SG16,
and standardization on a global scale began. As a result, in
2010, recommendations ITU-T F.745, specifying functional
requirements for network based Speech-to-Speech Translation(S2ST), and H.625, specifying architectural requirements,
were created. A-STAR, which had been restricted to the AsiaPacific region, was also expanded and reorganized to continue its
activities as the Universal Speech Translation Advanced Research
consortium (U-STAR). Recently, with advances in Big Data
analysis and AI, this once-limited field has begun to produce
practical products and services.

2. History and standardization in the study ofspeech translation

3. Implementation of multilingual speechtranslation

Here we look at the history over many years, of R&D
attempting to realize the dream of multilingual speech translation,
and also the part played by standardization.
At the beginning, different research agencies studied speechtranslation separately, but individual study had limitations, so
in 1991, scientists from around the world, including the USA,
Germany, France, Japan, Korea, and Italy, began forming
voluntary organizations such as the Consortium for Speech
Translation Advanced Research (C-STAR), and they started
collaborating by sharing independent research results for eachlanguage and integrating them together. Thus, speech translation

Generally, to realize two-way speech communication between
people speaking different languages, the audio signal expressedin the speaker’s language must be translated to an audio signal
in the language of the listener. For example, Japanese to English
translation is implemented as in Figure 1. When the speakersays “watashi wa gaxtukooni…” in Japanese, the audio signal is
automatically recognized as “わたしは学校に行く” in Japanesetext, this text is machine translated to “I go to school” in Englishthat the listener can understand, and the text is then converted toan English audio signal.

New Breeze Spring 20189

■ Figure 1: Outline of speech translation

Here, we have described speech translation as implemented
by performing Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), MachineTranslation (MT), and Text-to-Speech (TTS) functions insequence, using the case of Japanese to English translation as an
example. This combination of functions can be used to translate
between any languages and is not limited to Japanese-to-English.
Here, ASR converts the input speech signal into text data, MT
converts the input text data into text data in a different language(but having equivalent meaning), and TTS converts the input text
data into a speech signal. The details of these conversions depend■ Figure 2: Architecture of multilingual speech translation

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New Breeze Spring 2018

on the languages and fields being translated. As such, ASR, MT
and TTS generally share the basic function of using conversion
dictionaries called corpuses for each translated language andfield. When building a multi-lingual speech translation systemin this way, the engines that realize each of these functions can be
designed and developed independently, and multi-lingual speechtranslation can be achieved more easily by combining engines
appropriately, according to the languages and application area
(Figure 2).

■ Figure 3: Architecture and its implementation protocol

To make it possible to implement multilingual speechtranslation with this sort of structure, the functionality of eachfunctional element be standardized, as well as how each functional
element is deployed, what and how they exchange information,
including protocols and formats. Since the main functional
elements of speech translation, namely ASR, MC, and TTS,
require significant amounts of processing, the ITU-T SG16 has
adopted a client-server model in which servers are placed on the
network and users use server functionality through clients that are
installed on their various terminals. As such, protocols between
client and server, and between servers, are being standardized(Figure 3).

4. State of standardization in speechtranslation
Later in the speech translation field, in 2014, ITU-T
SG2 Q4 and ISO/IEC JTC1/SC35 WG5 proposed thatuser interfaces be studied and standardized to improve service

availability, independent of system functional and organizational
requirements. These standardization proposals regulate userinterfaces particularly for when speaker and listener are engaged
in two-way communication with each other at a single location.
S2ST has already been standardized and has moved to a
maintenance and management phase, so the relation of these
proposals to the completed recommendations, F.745 and H.625,
as well as any particular requirements due to the face-to-faceenvironment needed to be clarified. In this area, there werealso proposals regarding the user interface for speech translationin face-to-face environments from ASTAP EG-SNLP in
Q4/2 (which was later integrated into EG-MA), which wasstudying the E.FAST draft recommendation. It was agreed
that more investigation was needed to understand various use
cases and associated issues, and that work should move from
SG2 to SG16, become Q24/16, and continue in collaboration
with Q21. On the other hand, speech translation user interfaces
being studied in ISO/IEC JTC1/SC35 WG5, IS20382-1 and -2

New Breeze Spring 201811

were standardized without necessarily coordinating sufficiently
with ITU-T speech translation standardization activities, and
ITU-T submitted comments identifying issues during DIS voting.
The reply given to ITU-T SG16 by JTC1/SC35 was that thesestandards apply only to the user interface setup. In response,
ITU-T SG16 reviewed and reorganized the interrelation among
S2ST related standards (F.745, H.625, E.FAST, IS 20382-1 and-2) as shown in Figure 4, and intends to reaffirm this at the JTCI/
SC35 meeting in February, 2018.
Note that while F.745 and H.625 were standardized with thegoal of realizing two-way speech translation, input and output
signals are not necessarily limited to audio signals. By skipping
the ASR and TTS functions of F.745 and H.625, and using only
the MT function directly for input and output text data, these■ Figure 4: Interrelation among S2ST related standards

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New Breeze Spring 2018

standards could be used for multilingual text translation systems.
Or, by skipping the ASR function for communication in one
direction, and the TTS function in the other direction, tools
such as Koetra (http://www.koetra.jp/) can be created to support
communication between deaf and hearing people. Still further,by applying recent advances in Big Data, AI and Deep Learning
to video recognition, the ASR function could be replaced or
extended, from simple speech recognition to recognition of signlanguage video, so that multi-lingual speech translation could
evolve into general translation, including sign language. Even if
this will be difficult to realize by the time the Paralympics begin,continuing to work on implementing this sort of tool in support ofdisabled persons has the benefit of contributing to the hopes anddreams of many who live with such disabilities.

Accessibility Standardization

Masahito Kawamori

Project Professor
Graduate School of Media and Governance
Keio University

1. Introduction
It is finally less than two years until the Tokyo Olympics andParalympics begin in 2020. The Olympics and Paralympics also
bring increased attention on measures supporting persons withdisabilities (PwDs) and specific needs.
ITU-T works with external organizations such as the World
Health Organization (WHO) and the World Federation of
the Deaf (WFD) to create ICT standards promoting healthand security in society. This article gives an overview ofstandardization toward creating a barrier-free society, for the
Olympics and Paralympics and beyond, for example supporting
the daily activities of elderly and PwD as well as communication intimes of emergency.
Accessibility is a general term for technologies, policies andmeasures designed to make various information more accessible
to PwDs, elderly, or others who have specific needs. ITU-T SG16
deals with standardization of technologies that make multimedia
information, in particular, more accessible.
The increasing importance of accessibility is manifest in
the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UN-CRPD). This convention was adopted by the
UN General Assembly on December 13, 2006, and it came into
effect in 2007. It imposes a duty on signatory countries to preserve
the right of persons with disabilities to be treated equally withpersons without disabilities. UN-CRPD was ratified by Japan in
January 2014 and has been in force since February that year. A
result has been the “Act for Eliminating Discrimination against
Persons with Disabilities”, which was enacted in April 2016.
Articles 3, 9, and 21 of UN-CRPD in particular are provisions
directly related to maintaining access to information. The gist ofthese articles is as follows:• Article 3: General Principle: Respect for inherent dignity,
individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s
own choices, and independence of persons ”• Article 9: “Abilit y to use facilities and ser vices(Accessibility)”: to ensure to persons with disabilities accessto information and communications, including informationand communications technologies and systems• Article 21: “Freedom of expression and opinion, and accessto information”
Article 9 in particular states: “States Parties shall also
take appropriate measures to promote access for persons withdisabilities to new information and communications technologies
and systems, including the Internet,” stipulating that the UN
and each country must endeavor to promote participation in theinformation society by PwDs.
These developments show that accessibility has become an
important issue, especially at the ITU, which is the organization
governing information and communications at the UN, andparticularly the ITU-T, which recommends and promotes
standardization of accessibility.
This standardization work is done mainly in ITU-T Q26/16.
Below is a summary of the work items discussed in Q26/16.

2. H.702 “Accessibility profiles for IPTV
systems” and related documents
This Recommendation was officially adopted on November
28, 2015, and it defines the basic accessibility functions for IPTV.
Since then, further revisions have been made.
H.702 describes profiles of requirements on terminal devices
for closed captioning, audio description (or descriptive audio), anddisplay of sign language interpretation. It defines Basic Profile,
Enhanced Profile, and Main Profile. It is hoped that ultimately,
all televisions will implement Main Profile.
The Recommendation is the first ever international technicalstandard on IPTV accessibility and was initiated with a liaison
statement from the Japan Federation of the Deaf and the All
Japan Association of Hard of Hearing and Late-Deafened People(Zennancho), requesting ITU-T to standardize such profiles
to meet their immediate needs. Contributions were created andproposed through industry-academic cooperation involving
Waseda University, Keio University, Oki Electric Co. Ltd.,ASTEM, and others.
Implementation according to this Recommendation
has already been done in Japan, already recognized by thegovernment as well as among PwDs both in Japan and overseas,
and wider deployment is anticipated. Currently, work has also
begun to adopt it for cable TV and regular broadcasts throughorganizations such as the European Broadcasting Union. In
Japan, the Telecommunication Technology Committee (TTC)
took global leadership in issuing the TTC standard JT.H702,“Accessibility Profiles for IPTV Systems” in 2016, making it aJapanese standard.
Accompanying H.702, Technical Paper HSTP.CONF-H702“Conformance testing specification for ITU-T H.702” hasalso been approved, describing tests for conformance to therequirements of H.702. Conformance testing for H.702 has also
been done according to this document, and the Eye-dragon 4,
an IPTV set-top-box from ASTEM Co. Ltd., has passed thisconformance testing.

New Breeze Spring 201813

■ Figure 1: Outline of the experiment of guaranteeing information accessibility for the disabled indigital terrestrial broadcasts using H.702

The technical paper, HSTP.ACC-UC “Use cases for inclusive
media access services”, is also currently being drafted, describing
use-cases of H.702 implementations. This document describes
examples of how systems implementing H.702 will be used,and how they provide accessibility, making it a reference for
implementations. It describes the results of a joint experimentcurrently done with television broadcasters in Japan that provides
information accessibility (specifically, signing video and closed
captions) by using IPTV to complement digital terrestrial
broadcasts (see Figure 1).
H.702 has become widely known among PwDs as an ITU
international standard. As a result, it has also been adopted asa national standard by governments in several countries due todemand from PwDs. Besides Japan, Mongolia is planning to
adopt H.702, and translation of the documents to Mongolian iscurrently in progress. Adoption in the legal system is expected
within FY2018.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is
conducting the “Project for Promoting Social Participation of
Persons with Disabilities in Ulaanbaatar City,” in Ulaanbaatar,
the capital of Mongolia, and H.702 is expected to be a powerfultool for the project. A group of PwDs in Mongolia have obtained abroadcasting license, are preparing a broadcasting service, and are
expecting to start a local pilot service using H.702 during 2018.
Interest in H.702 is also increasing in the United Nations.
December 3 has been designated International Day of Persons
with Disabilities (IDPD) by the UN to commemorate adoption

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New Breeze Spring 2018of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons
on December 3, 1982, with various events held around the world
each year. In 2017, the United Nations Headquarters held an
IDPD event on December 1, where a panel was held to discussand promote the importance of the H.702 standard for access to
information for PwDs, accompanied by an H.702 demo session.
Events to promote H.702 are also planned at general meetingsof other organizations including the UN, the World Federation of
the Deaf, the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People,
and the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People.
■ Figure 2: A TV screen in Mongolia implementing H.702

3. ITU-T Rec. F.921 “Audio-based network
navigation system for persons with vision
impairment”
This Recommendation was approved in May 2017. This work
item was based on a proposal from the WayFindr organizationin the UK. It specifies a framework for providing audio-basednavigation directions for persons with visual impairments.
The Recommendation is intended for use, not outdoors, but inspaces like large buildings and underground train stations, where
GPS signals do not reach. It describes requirements for methods
such as installing beacons and other devices that are able to give
appropriate audible guidance to persons with visual disabilities.
■ Figure 3: A video of the experiment taken place inLondonF.921 is a Recommendation regarding a framework and describes
requirements. Detailed descriptions and compliance are describedin “Compliance Protocol and Indicators for Audio-Based Network
Navigation System for Persons with Vision Impairment” (FSTP.
ANS-Checklist). F.921 and the WayFindr framework on which it
is based are already being used in the London Underground, anddemonstrations are about to begin in areas including Los Angeles
and Sydney.
Demonstrations are also planned in Asia, including Japan,
the Philippines, and Mongolia. It is anticipated that further
technical Recommendations and conformance test documents willbe created in the future, mainly by WayFindr, and will become
international standards for audio guidance. An accessibility
advisor to the President of the US has also shown interest in
adopting it as a standard in the USA, as it is attracting attention
from many governments as a global standard. Also related tothis, the Zero Project decided to recognize F.921 as an excellent
technology policy providing audio guidance to persons with visualdisabilities at the 2018 Zero Project Conference. The Zero Projectis an effort, headquartered in Vienna, to find and introduce
the most advanced initiatives, from around the world that will
improve the lives of PwDs, through collaboration with over 3,000
experts on issues of PwDs from around the world.
In Japan, the TTC plans to begin efforts toward localizing thestandard quickly.
This Recommendation is very significant for ensuring safe
freedom-of-mobility for persons with visual impairment, andthe Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, in particular, is a good
opportunity for it to be deployed widely.

■ Figure 4: Mechanism of telephone relay services

Sign language
communication

Persons withhearing impairment

Voice language
communication

Telephone relay
service provider

Listener

New Breeze Spring 201815

4. F.Relay Telecommunication Relay Services
Telephone relay services are a mechanism for Deaf and hardof-hearing people to use the telephone. They provide support
for real-time two-way communication between hearing andnon-hearing persons by having a Communication Assistant (CA)mediating between spoken voice language and sign language ortext.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing people cannot make use of audioonly telephone services. This presents various obstacles that limit
freedom in daily life for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. One
particular issue is the inability to make emergency calls (like 911
in the USA) in the event of disasters or crime.
During the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, Japan expects
to receive many PwDs from foreign countries, and the questionof how to provide emergency services to these guests will be an
extremely important one.
Telephone relay services can support such circumstancesby enabling telephone conversation between persons with andwithout hearing disabilities.
In a telephone relay service, the service provider puts a person
as a Communication Assistant between the callers, as shown in
Figure 4. The Communication Assistant converts spoken words tosign language or text, and sign language or text to spoken words so
the two parties can understand each other.
Telephone relay services have already been in operation in
many countries. However, since there has been no standard,
policies and technologies in each country are different and theresulting lack of interoperability has posed a great inconvenience
for users, particularly with current advances in globalization.
This applies especially during international events such as the
Olympics.
This draft Recommendation is expected to change thesituation by specifying a framework for such telephone relay
services. It has been progressing based on proposals from
Gallaudet University in the USA, which is well known for
education for the Deaf and hard of hearing, and companies like
Sprint, who are actually offering telephone relay services.
For these and other reasons, this draft Recommendation ismuch anticipated by Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities,
receiving active contribution from them.
The draft Recommendation is expected to be completed
and to enter the approval process during 2018. A telephone relay

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New Breeze Spring 2018service utilizing IPTV is also described in an appendix.
In parallel with F.Relay, a service similar to, but different
from, telephone relay services are dealt with in the draft
Recommendation in the next section, regarding accessibility to
public services.

5. F.ACC-TCPS: Total Conversation System for
Public Services
Recently, more and more companies are providing customer
service to PwDs using telephone relay services or remote video
sign-language interpretation (VRI). For example, Barclays
Bank in the UK are providing reception services in British Sign
Language (BSL) to BarclayCard customers.
Reception services like this, using remote video, are technicallyquite similar to video telephone relay services (VRS), but differ
in that they do not connect the person with hearing disability to
any customer, but only to the reception of the party providing theservice. These services are currently provided according to theneeds of each enterprise.
However, unlike services by private enterprises, services by the
public sector, such as fire brigade and policing, should be madeavailable equally to all citizens, so the public sector has a duty tomake their services accessible to all, including PwDs.
In light of this, F.ACC-TCPS describes technical backgroundand requirements for public service reception guidance.
At international events like the Tokyo Olympics andParalympics, where many PwDs are expected to attend, handlingof emergency information is extremely important, so it is desirable
that this draft Recommendation be approved and disseminatedquickly.

6. H.ACC-MMSIGN: “Abstract language formultimedia signing”
This draft Recommendation was originally a work item
arising from a proposal by Tunisia University in 2014, but there
were no contributions after that. The work has now been restarted,because topics related to sign language have begun to be treated aspart of natural language translation.
In the past, there have been many proposals for languages
that describe sign language to be used for computer graphics(CG), but none of them were really able to describe it adequately.
A language for describing sign language is needed not just forgenerating sign language using CG and animation; use with
captured video as well as for machine learning databases for
sign-language recognition is also important. As such, a standard
language for encoding sign language is needed.
This draft Recommendation uses the term “Multimedia
Sign”. While it does not provide a clear definition for this term,
simply put, it refers broadly to “sign language expressed using
multimedia,” which includes sign language using a CG avatar, butalso captured video.
There are many conf licting opinions on whether realcommunication is possible using sign language generated withCG avatars, but since Deaf people that have real experience withCG in particular have expressed strong concerns and opposition,
this draft Recommendation avoids any mention of CG as much as
possible.

7. F.WAAD: “Safety requirements for wearable
audio augmenting devices”
Recently, devices generally referred to as Personal Sound
Amplifier Products (PSAPs), which are different from hearing
aids used for medical purposes, are becoming widely available on
the market. Prices are not high, in the range from 10 to 1,000 US
dollars, and they can be purchased on Amazon and other Web
sites, so they are rather easy to use.
PSAPs are intended to be used to help people with healthy
hearing hear better, but it has recently been found that theseproducts are actually often promoted and purchased as aninexpensive alternative to hearing aids (See Figure 5). The
problem with this situation is that since these products are notintended to be used as hearing aids, they do not provide functions
that hearing aids are required to have, such as mechanisms tosuppress feedback and limit volume. If they are used by people
with poor hearing, there is a danger that they could cause further■ Figure 5: Exampleof PSAP

hearing damage.
This draft Recommendation describes safety requirements for
PSAP devices based on proposals for the EU by members of theEuropean Association of Hearing Aid Professionals.

8. HSTP.AEHH: Audio enhancement for the
hard-of-hearing
This Technical Paper describes various technologies forhelping people who are hard of hearing to hear better. It was
created based on a proposal originally from Japan Broadcasting
Corporation (NHK). It describes technologies that make hearing
easier for those that are hard of hearing, using methods thataugment sound without increasing the volume, or change thespeed of sound playback.

9. FSTP-RCSO: Overview of remote captioning
services
Remote captioning services use a remote operator to provide
caption text for, for example, a meeting as it progresses. This
sort of services is extremely useful for Deaf and hard-of-hearing
persons and also for foreigners, and offering it remotely helps toimprove efficiency. This document gives a technical overview
and requirements for these sorts of remote captioning services.
This work is being done by the European Federation of theHard-of-Hearing People and includes quite practical content
such as educational methods and operations. It also refers to an
important type of captioning service, which uses automatic speech
recognition technology.
As captioning services are expected to be needed in many
situations at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, this document
should be a valuable reference providing guidance for services thatprovide captions remotely.

10. Conclusion
This article has described the standardization work on
accessibility at ITU-T Q26/16. This standardization ofaccessibility in cooperation with other UN related organizations is
becoming a mainstream activity around the world, and standards
that have been made into Recommendations are already being
adopted in many countries. We hope that they will also comeinto general use in Japan as the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics
approach.

New Breeze Spring 201817

= A Serial Introduction Part 3=
Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2017
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.

Yoshihiro Nakayama

KDDI Foundation
http://www.kddi-foundation.or.jp/english/

Fields of activity: ICT projects in rural area

A Desire to Contribute to Society in Rural Area through ICT
I am very honored to receive the ITU-AJ Encouragement
Award. Since engaging in international cooperation activities, I havebeen involved in projects in various countries including Vietnam,
Mongolia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Thailand. I would like toexpress my deepest appreciation to my colleagues in Japan andoverseas for their support in these projects.
I have greatly enjoyed traveling to different parts of Asia andmeeting all sorts of people from different cultures. I find it very
rewarding being able to use my ICT skills to improve the lives ofothers.
In a project in Mongolia in 2015, we set up a parabolic antenna tobring Internet access to a village called Khalkhgol along the border ofthe eastern steppe area, about 1,000 kilometers away from the capital
Ulaanbaatar. We also connected the village hall, school and hospital
by Wi-Fi. As a result, the local children are now able to access online
teaching materials. It takes two whole days to drive from Ulaanbaatar
to Khalkhgol. After the installation work, there was an opening

Yoshikazu Narikiyo

ceremony where it was possible to see the happiness and excitementon the faces of everyone including the village head, doctor andteacher, and where many children gathered to sing a song. Khalkhgol
is located near Nomonhan, which is the site of a battle between
Russia and Japan over 70 years ago. There are still many monuments
marking this event. At the welcome party, we had a good timesinging and dancing together. Some of my Mongolian colleagues evensang a famous Japanese song, Kitaguni-no-haru, accompanied by anelectronic piano. Although this project lasted just one year, its benefits
were recognized and the running costs for at least the following year
were included in the village budget.
After this experience, I am keen to make further contributions
to local communities. I am proud of the way Japan has supported andencouraged these people, but I hope we can do even more to accelerate
and promote projects that will help people not only in other countries
but also here in Japan.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
http://www.nhk.or.jp/nagoya/Fields of activity: D igital terrestrial broadcasting

International standardization of current and future digital terrestrial
broadcasting
It is a great honor to receive the ITU-AJ International Activity
Encouragement Award. I am deeply indebted to The ITU
Association of Japan and everyone who has offered me their guidance.
Since 2014, I have been involved with Working Party 6A of
ITU-R Study Group 6, where we are working on the revision andformulation of documents concerning terrestrial digital broadcasting.
This included revising Recommendation ITU-R BT.1368,
which relates to planning criteria, including protection ratios, fordigital terrestrial television services in the VHF/UHF bands, andcreating ITU-R BT.2343, which relates to field trials of 4K and 8K
transmission for the next generation of terrestrial digital broadcasting.
My first job in ITU-R standardization was to revise the ITU-R
BT.1368 Recommendation. This started at a meeting in the spring of2014, where I worked on interference protection ratios for DVB-T2
and ISDB-T in Colombia, which is one of the countries in SouthAmerica that has adopted the DVB-T2 standard. At the fall 2014
meeting, we revised the recommendation to make some corrections

18

New Breeze Spring 2018

based on experimental results obtained in Japan. With the supportof Brazil, which is another member of the ISDB-T family, the issues
were resolved not only at the meeting but also in preliminary behindthe-scenes discussions in Colombia. We eventually became goodfriends and often went out to dinner together.
I have also spent a good part of my career working on the ITU-R
BT.2343 report on field trials of 4K and 8K television via terrestrial
digital broadcasts. At the fall 2014 meeting, we proposed the creationof a report by Japan, and the first version of this report was publishedat the spring 2015 meeting. Also, for public viewings using 8K
UHDTV transmissions in Brazil during the 2016 Rio Olympics, werevised the report into the form of a joint proposal by Japan and Brazil
with the cooperation of the Brazilian supervisory authorities.
Through our international standardization activities at the ITU,
I hope that Japan’s broadcasting technology will lead the world, andthat the world’s broadcasting industry will continue to evolve.

Yoshitaka Hakamada

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
http://www.nhk.or.jp/corporateinfo/

Fields of activity: D igital broadcasting

International standardization of channel bonding for 4K and 8K cable TV
transmission

I am honored to receive the ITU-AJ International Activity
Encouragement Award. My sincere gratitude goes out to The ITU
Association of Japan and to all my colleagues.
In Japan, we are making steady progress towards the start of4K and 8K satellite broadcasting in December 2018. From 2014,
I participated in Study Group 9 (SG9), which is concerned withcable TV research, and I became involved with the standardizationof channel bonding technology that was developed for cable TV
transmissions of 4K and 8K satellite broadcasts. Channel bonding
technology is covered by three Recommendations (ITU-T
Recommendations J.183, J.288 and J.94).
With the aim of fast-tracking the international standardizationof channel bonding technology, I took part in the ITU-R SG9
meeting of September 2014, even though the system was still inthe middle of being studied here in Japan. At this meeting, in order
to complete the international standardization without making it
inconsistent with the details of Japan’s domestic standardization, I
introduced a contributory document proposing revisions to existing
Recommendations J.183 (multiplexing frames) and J.94 (service

Katsumasa Hirose

information; SI), for which it was known that standardization efforts
were required in Japan, and I started working on standardization at
ITU-T SG9.
Then, at the ITU-T SG9 meeting in June 2015, based on the
progress that Japan had made in standardization, we proposed amethod for dealing with the variable-length packet format adopted
for 4K and 8K satellite broadcasting, and began drafting the new
Recommendation J.288.
At the ITU-T SG9 meeting in January 2016, we preparedrevised drafts of the existing Recommendations J.183 and J.94
and a draft of a new Recommendation J.288 aimed at achieving
consistency with the contents of the Japanese standard issued in
November 2015. Following discussions at this meeting, all three draft
recommendations were approved and in March 2016 they were allissued as Recommendations.
This award has encouraged me to continue working on
standardization activities aimed at the development of broadcasting
technology in the future.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
http://www.nhk.or.jp/corporateinfo/

Fields of activity: ISDB-T, EWBS

Promoting ISDB-T in Peru — our neighbor across the Pacific Ocean
It is a great privilege to receive the ITU-AJ International Activity
Encouragement Award. I would like to express my sincere gratitude
to The ITU Association of Japan and all my colleagues. Starting in
October 2012, I spent two years working as a technical cooperation
expert for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),
and spent time working in Peru to promote the spread of terrestrial
digital broadcasting (ISDB-T). Like Japan, Peru is located on the
Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where major earthquakes and tsunamis occur
periodically, and also experiences abnormal weather events that cancause flooding and other problems. I worked on the introductionof an emergency warning broadcast system (EWBS), which isone of the features of ISDB-T. Our plan was to set up terrestrial
digital transmission facilities in seven cities, and to multiplex theterrestrial digital signals with EWBS from the capital city Lima sothat emergency information can be received via broadcasts in rural
areas. The project was officially started in 2012, and a little over four
years later, we were able to start operating the system in Peru in June

2016. When an earthquake struck off the coast of Mexico (M8.1) in
September 2017, EWBS was used to inform people of the arrival ofa tsunami. This made Peru the first country outside Japan to makepractical use of this system. In the future, I hope that Peru’s EWBS
will continue to protect as many people as possible.
Peru may be a long way from Japan, but we are both neighborsof the Pacific Ocean, and there are strong expectations that Peru
will import terrestrial digital broadcasting and other technologies
from Japan. In the meantime, I am proud to have spent two years
promoting the spread of terrestrial digital broadcasting in Peru, andmy contribution, however small, is something I will always remember
fondly. I hope that Peru and all the other countries that have adopted
ISDB-T will continue to enjoy the benefits of this technology in the
future. With the encouragement of this award, I hope to continue
working on the international development of ISDB-T, and perhaps
contribute to the spread of next-generation 4K and 8K broadcasting
systems.

New Breeze Spring 2018

19

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New Breeze Spring 2018

“For the ideal use of radio spectrumin new wireless era”
— Nomination for ITU RRB Member —In the 110-year history of the Radio Regulations (RR), wireless applications have been increasing in number and in categories andthe structure of the RR have become more and more complicated. The Radio Regulations Board (RRB) has an important role to avoid
unnecessary conflicts in applying the RR. Dr. Hashimoto’s outstanding and significant accomplishments in the ITU-R make him an ideal
candidate for a Member of the RRB. Here, the Government of Japan nominates him for a Member of the RRB and would like to seek
your support to him.

Name

Dr. Akira HASHIMOTO

Present title

Counsellor for Wireless Technology
Standardization, NTT DOCOMO Inc.

Date of birth

October 30, 1947

Official address

2-11-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo,
100-6150, Japan1970

Bachelor’s degree of Electrical Engineering,
The University of Tokyo

1999

Ph.D. degree, The University of Tokyo

1999

Achievement Award from the Institute ofElectronics, Information & Communication
Engineering, Japan

1970

Joined Nippon Telegraph & Telephone
Public Cooperation (NTT)1995 – 1997

Executive Manager of Wireless Systems Lab,
NTT

1997 – 1998

Moving to NTT DOCOMO, Senior Manager
of Plant Department

1998 – 2001

Vice President, Executive Manager ofWireless Link Development Department

2001 – 2015

Managing Director of Wireless Technology
Standardization Department

2016 –

Counsellor for Wireless Technology
Standardization

June 2015

Minister’s Award from Ministry of Internalaffairs and Communications (MIC) forRadiowave Achievement Award

October 2015

ITU Silver Medal for contributions to the
ITU-R activities

June 2016

Minister’s Award from the MIC for RadioDay 2016

New Breeze Spring 2018iii

New Breeze
平成三十年四月十日発行（年四回一、四、七、十月の十日発行）第三十巻第二号（通巻百十八号）

定価一冊

一、六二〇円 （本体価格 一、五〇〇円、消費税 一二〇円） 年間購読料

六、四八〇円 （本体価格 六、〇〇〇円、消費税 四八〇円）