The Tsukuba Forum, hosted by NTT, is an event where NTT Access Service Systems Laboratories, co-sponsoring organizations, NTT Group, and others participate to introduce and exhibit the latest R&D and technology trends related to access networks through a three-pronged approach. In fiscal year 2024, over 40 exhibitions, events, and keynote speeches were held.

Tsukuba Forum 2024 was held at Tsukuba Research and Development Center (Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture) over two days on May 16 and 17, 2024. The theme of this year's forum was "Creating New Value: The Challenge of Access Networks to Support a Sustainable Society."

The latest results of a wide range of research and development were exhibited, attracting many participants, who gained a stronger sense of IOWN's theme of "from concept to realization" for the creation of new value and sustainability.

NTT's exhibit presented a vision of the future of access networks in the IOWN era, in the categories of "technologies that support the sophistication and diversification of services," "technologies that radically smarten operations," and "technologies that open up new business domains."

"Social Well-being" Achieved through Human- and Earth-friendly Social Infrastructure
　Here's a summary of the keynote speech by Sachiko Onishi, NTT Managing Executive Officer, General Manager of R&D and Marketing Division:

The global situation and social issues are becoming more and more serious, including food and clothing waste, global environmental issues, and in Japan, the declining birthrate, aging population, and labor shortages. In this context, people's values are diversifying. People seem to be attracted to products that appeal to their sensibilities, such as those that shift the mindset from goods to experiences and emphasize meaning and stories. In this sense, I feel that the term "well-being" has become an extremely important keyword in today's business operations.

In light of this situation, NTT Group is promoting the incorporation of a market-in perspective into its conventional product-out R&D, and is emphasizing the customer perspective in all business processes in order to strengthen its CX-oriented services. We believe that access networks as information and telecommunications infrastructure will also come to play a role as socio-industrial infrastructure that supports people's lives from a market-in perspective, and NTT Group is beginning to see results in areas such as food, agriculture, and healthcare.

This year, a number of services incorporating generative AI have been announced. Generative AI learns human behavior and makes suggestions that are optimal for that person, but it requires a large number of parameters for learning, power consumption, and other resources. In contrast, NTT Group's "tsuzumi" is lightweight, has world-class Japanese-language performance, can be customized to suit the user and the industry, and supports not only languages but also various other formats, such as reading charts and diagrams.

With the spread of generative AI, global power consumption is expected to rise significantly. The amount of power required to train a large-scale language model once is equivalent to the amount of electricity generated by running a nuclear power plant for one hour, and power consumption in data centers is expected to accelerate accordingly to 13 times the previous level. "IOWN" uses optical technology for transmission and data processing. With its low power consumption, large capacity, high quality, and low latency, IOWN will be used as the infrastructure supporting the age of AI.

By drastically reducing power consumption through technology and improving power efficiency, processing efficiency, and learning efficiency, including AI models, we aim to build an energy-efficient industrial infrastructure for the upcoming AI-driven society. We strive to create a world of Social Well-being where people and the planet are both respected, and various people can live healthily and happily.

As an advancement of optical fiber cable technology toward IOWN's goal of increasing transmission capacity by 125 times, 4-core optical fiber cable and peripheral technology, along with 10-channel super optical fiber and amplification technology, are planned to be put into practical use in the near future. A single optical fiber can transmit data equivalent to four conventional fibers, leading to cost reductions in installation and materials.
　Against the backdrop of dramatically increasing demand for higher capacity in submarine and land-based networks, as well as the need to sustainably expand transmission capacity in existing facility space, we are effectively utilizing existing technologies and optical facilities such as optical cables to achieve higher capacity in submarine networks and networks between data centers and reduce facility construction costs. In addition, the power savings coming from transmission lines have enabled environmental protection. It is also expected to be a technology that supports IOWN's goal of high-capacity, low-latency networks, by reducing the environmental burden through energy-saving transmission lines.

This technology enables power supply and communication using optical fiber to outdoor and non-electrified areas (such as remote areas, underground, etc.) where it is difficult to supply power. The exhibition featured a dynamic display of a combination of optical fiber power supply technology that increases the power supply per fiber core by using Multi-Core Fiber (MCF) and optical power IoT access technology that enables communication using optical power supply, by implementing ultra-low power consumption and sleep functions for terminals.
　This technology makes it possible to supply power to places where it has been difficult to do so until now, such as deep in the mountains or underground, and enables low-power operation of communication terminals, such as sensors for natural disaster monitoring and pest control that operate in such places.

Related release
https://group.ntt/jp/newsrelease/2023/08/29/230829a.html

This is a simple installation optical cable technology that makes it possible to install optical cables economically and quickly, without using utility poles and conduits for installation of optical fibers in disadvantaged areas, and for installation of 5G and Beyond 5G (6G) base stations.
　Until now, optical fiber has been connected to residences and offices using conventional utility poles and conduits However, further expansion of the optical fiber network is required to support the future development of IoT. This technology does not require excavation or restoration work on roads, and thus realizes optical fiber maintenance that is both economical and environmentally friendly.

Cradio®" is a control technology that follows the ever-changing wireless environment to realize high-capacity, low latency, and highly reliable wireless access in the 6G/IOWN era. Here's an overview of this technology and some examples of its value creation in business, including on-site implementation and demonstration experiments.
　Wireless communication is an important element of social infrastructure and demand is expected to further increase in the future. However, securing and improving the communication environment is essential, because new high-rise buildings and other large structures are likely to cause radio shielding and interference in the surrounding area. By utilizing "Cradio®," a multi-radio proactive control technology, it is possible to predict where to place base stations to create the most comfortable wireless environment. Optimal placement of base stations can also contribute to reduced power consumption.

Press Release
Demonstration of Real-Time Optical and Wireless Coordination Control for Efficient IOWN All-Photonics Network Utilization
https://group.ntt/jp/newsrelease/2024/05/15/240515a.html

In response to Japan's aging social infrastructure and the increasing frequency of natural disasters such as typhoons and torrential rains, NTT Group is working to solve these social issues by utilizing its ICT technology.
　The MMS (Mobile Mapping System) equipped with an omni-directional camera on the vehicle makes it possible to capture images from the ground surface to the sky and create a composite image in all directions. The MMS enables the system to acquire highly accurate and efficient 3D location information around roads while driving, measure the inclination and deflection of utility poles, and identify utility poles that require maintenance.

At the outdoor exhibition space, we held a demonstration of the construction obstacle proximity detection system, which alerts workers with an alarm when a utility pole being installed comes dangerously close to cables or buildings.
　Using a device that can measure the shape and distance of surrounding objects based on the speed and strength of laser reflections, the system extracts existing poles and cables as obstacles from the acquired point cloud data. The shape of the extracted objects is displayed as a 3D model, and an alarm is triggered when the pole being installed approaches these existing poles or cables.
　The system aims to improve construction efficiency and safety by potentially allowing the combination of roles: the dedicated signaler for heavy machinery operations and the pole stabilizer who prevents the lifted utility pole from swaying, who are typically each placed at a single site.

The NTT Access Network Museum, which is permanently installed at the Tsukuba Research and Development Center, presents the entire picture of access network technology in an easy-to-understand manner using a model of actual facilities from the NTT building to the customer's home. The museum also exhibits the principles and manufacturing methods of optical fiber.

Exhibit: NTT Fiber Optic Terminal Box SFAO Closure (NTT Access Network Museum Building)

Exhibit: Raw materials for optical fiber

Participants gathered at the Tsukuba Research and Development Center, the host site of the Tsukuba Forum 2024 exhibition, and at the Tsukuba International Congress Center, where the keynote speech was delivered. Participants listened to the explanations given by the lecturers, indicating their strong expectations for the latest research and development.

Exhibit: Virtualization of Robot Control Promoting Factory Automation

Exhibit: Base Station Power Rescue System Using EVs

Exhibit: Non-stop inspection of wind turbines to increase power generation

Exhibit: Seamlessly switching between area-appropriate radios

Outdoor Exhibit: Communication Wire & Cable Association of Japan

Report of Tsukuba Forum 2023 hosted by NTT
IOWN4.0 world view and new optoelectronic fusion device company NTT Innovative Devices Corporation announced, etc. [Updated] 5/24 Detailed version
https://group.ntt/jp/magazine/blog/tsukuba-forum/