As part of the new medium-term management strategy "Creation of New Value through IOWN (from concept to realization)," NTT Innovative Devices Corporation was established to develop, market, and expand the business of "Photonics-Electronics Convergence technology" devices, a solution to the problem of electric power load and the development of new products to address this problem. The following is a summary of the press conference regarding NTT Innovative Devices Corporation's business activities and the development of Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices.

At the press conference, company President and CEO Hidehiro Tsukano presented the business strategy and outlook of NTT Innovative Devices Corporation, which manufactures Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices that are indispensable for the realization of the next-generation "IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network)" concept. The company manufactures Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices that are indispensable for realizing the next-generation network concept, IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network).

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1) What is "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology"?

NTT is working on research and development of "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology" as a solution to the problem of electric power load as part of its new medium-term management strategy, "Creation of New Value through IOWN (from concept to realization)". The background to this is the digitalization of our daily lives.

The amount of data is constantly increasing. For example, the number of people using services such as web conferencing, music and video streaming is increasing every year. There is no doubt that the digitization and IOT of our daily lives will continue to advance, including the realization of automated driving.

Data centers are indispensable as a mechanism to support this digitization of our lives, but increasing power consumption due to power load is becoming an issue. Currently, data centers consume only a few percent of the world's total power consumption, but it is predicted that by 2030, with the current technology, they will account for more than 10% of total power consumption.

The pressing issue for data centers is how to reduce power consumption while meeting the demand for digitization in our daily lives; NTT's "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology" is attracting attention as a technology that can help solve this problem.

Illustrated explanation of "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology"

2) Problems to be solved by "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology"

Why does "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology" help solve the problem of power consumption in data centers?

Until now, processing in computers has been done using electricity. However, processing with electricity generates heat. This means that extra energy is being consumed. Moreover, the heat causes a reduction in calculation speed. Therefore, NTT Innovative Devices Corporation has been working on a project to replace electric calculations with processing using light. This is because light consumes less energy than electricity and is less likely to cause delays.

Utilizing "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology" will enable data centers to reduce their power consumption, as well as increase the number of data centers that are cleaner and have higher processing capacity. More data centers with cleaner and higher processing capacity can also be expected to contribute to carbon neutrality.

3) Relationship between the new company and "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology"

NTT Innovative Devices Corporation aims to plan, design, develop, manufacture, and sell devices incorporating "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology" for the creation of new value through IOWN.

The company was established on June 12, 2023 with a mission to bring Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices to market and accelerate business expansion by spinning off functions related to the development of Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices that have been advanced at NTT Laboratories. The reason for making it an operating company is that, unlike the conventional network-centered solutions business, "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology" is a business that involves hardware. To further accelerate this business, on August 1 the company integrated with NTT Electronics, a leading-edge component manufacturer with development and manufacturing know-how as an optoelectronic component manufacturer. As a result, NTT Electronics has taken a new step forward as a specialized manufacturer with a full scope of functions including design, development, manufacturing, and sales of Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices.

The new company will accelerate the development of low-power short-distance optical transmission products in the mid- to long-term and expand into the computing area, which is a new market and is attracting attention as a means of solving the power consumption problem of data centers, while continuing to evolve toward the realization of even higher capacity and longer distance transmission. In the mid- to long-term, the new company will accelerate the development of low-power short-distance optical transmission products and take on various technological challenges to realize mass production of thinner and smaller devices in order to expand into the computing area, which is attracting attention as a new market and a means to solve the power consumption problem of data centers.

4) Concept of the new company

The mission of NTT Innovative Devices Corporation is to carry strategic devices to build the backbone infrastructure of the IOWN concept and to pursue NTT Group's goal of contributing to society through power reduction.

To contribute to the IOWN concept, NTT Innovative Devices Corporation is planning a business strategy that can be likened to a four-story building. To begin with, on the first floor, which is the foundation, we will accelerate the development of Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices, which are strategic devices that will play a key role in IOWN's core infrastructure. On the second floor, we will continue to utilize Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices to increase the computing power of the infrastructure and hardware. On the third floor, we will develop a mechanism to orchestrate the hardware and infrastructure created on the second floor. Finally, on the fourth and top floor, we will build and provide industry-specific solutions and services. We are considering contributing to the IOWN world with this kind of four-story strategy.

We will expand the application areas of Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices from the conventional telecommunication area (high-capacity, long-distance transmission) to the computing area (high-capacity, short-distance transmission), and then to the consumer area such as cars, PCs, and smartphones, aiming for sales in the four-digit billion-yen range at an early date.

In the future, Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices will be introduced in various fields so that people around the world can enjoy the benefits of the power of light, such as low power consumption, low latency, and large transmission capacity. To this end, NTT Innovative Devices Corporation will take on the challenge of establishing a mass production system that will enable cost reductions while guaranteeing quality.

NTT Innovative Devices Corporation will contribute to the realization of an affluent society and carbon neutrality by focusing on the spread of "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology."

Please look forward to the future business development of NTT Innovative Devices Corporation.

5) Deciphering "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology" [Illustrated] (Japanese only)

Saving the World from Power Shortages? What is the "Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology" that is attracting attention?
https://group.ntt/jp/magazine/blog/photonics_electronics_convergence/

Outline of NTT Innovative Devices Corporation
Name of Representative: Hidehiro Tsukano, President and Representative Director
Location Aquaria Tower Yokohama, 1-1-32 Shin-urashimacho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Capital 6,576,787,680 yen
Shareholder composition Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation 100%.
Business Description Planning, design, development, manufacture, and sales of Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices, etc.
https://www.ntt-innovative-devices.com/index.html

For inquiries from the media regarding this matter, please contact
NTT
Public Relations Office
ntt-pr@ntt.com

News Release
https://group.ntt/jp/newsrelease/2023/06/12/230612c.html

Special Feature on IOWN Concept ─ Photonics-Electronics Convergence Technology for Realization of All-Photonics Networks
https://journal.ntt.co.jp/article/5995

Special Feature on IOWN Concept - NTT Technology Journal
https://journal.ntt.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/JN20200804_all.pdf