NTT expands aperture in light-based computing

Connectivity defines computation. Our ability to interconnect data resources and repositories into services derived from the web backbone of the cloud is the natural evolution of the pre-millennium networking era. There was a time (the eighties and the nineties) when we were talking distributors and switches they work in local and wide area networks with awe and respect. The connections we now form in the cloud can be traced back to the applications that now enjoy interconnection and ultimately to the connections that exist on silicon wafers and electronic circuits.

Some of these standards are changing. Application connection points remain comparatively static (although, yes, AI is changing everything), but the way we forge and merge connectivity is changing as a result of optical technologies and photonics, e.g. the use of light to change what was once an electronic connection point into a photonics-based connection capable of operating at much higher speeds using much less energy and with increased responsiveness.

What is Photonics?

We have detailed the mechanisms of this potential paradigm shift in the past in relation to research and development work carried out by NTT Corporation. The company’s innovative optical and wireless network (IOWN) approach is designed around photonics technology for ultra-high capacity, ultra-low latency and ultra-low power consumption. It’s worth remembering that as we are today, the vast majority of our devices still use electronics to process and transmit information.

In contrast… and as a branch of optical science, photonics is concerned with the generation, detection and management of light through various types of modulation, switching, application and detection to power photonics-based microprocessors, e.g. speed numerical calculations that are said to pave the way to optical quantum computers.

Working diligently to develop these technologies (some of which we have yet to finish building the hardware, let alone begin thinking about how the software structures and functions will work), NTT says it takes an altruistic approach to R&D ensuring that Work helps create a more ‘sustainable society for all’ in the future.

Some of her most recent work in this area includes implementing NTT’s All-Photonics Network (APN) to advance cloud-based endoscopy and remote manufacturing capabilities. NTT and Olympus Corporation (yes, the one you know for cameras, but also makes microscopes, thermometers and endoscopes) have announced the creation of a cloud endoscopy system that uses the NTT IOWN APN with what is said to be an ability to resolve related network issues that arise in cloud-based medical technology at this level.

For those not of a biological science bent (and the wimps who would rather not think about such things if given the choice) an endoscope is a medical device in which a flexible tube is inserted into the body’s natural openings to perform an examination and take tissue samples. Today, endoscopes are used more and more often due to the low level of invasiveness of the equipment and the high level of safety.

This reference to “cloud-based endoscopy” here means this use of Olympus endoscopes to perform image processing, which has been conventionally processed within the endoscopy equipment, remotely [private] cloud. This has been difficult to achieve with conventional technology for many reasons, but the power and performance of networking are among the key factors. NTT says its IOWN APN technology enables real-time image processing in the cloud, and that this use case helps create a reference model for the “commercialization” of cloud endoscopy systems in the near future.

Jitsuyouka: Commercialization & Utility

If this merchandising point sounds a bit fancy or fanciful, maybe it shouldn’t ie. NTT establishes and centers much of its research and development around the concept of “Jitsuyouka”, which literally translates into English as commercial development for utility, but NTT tempers this definition with the need for products and services to also benefit society.

According to NTT, “[Today]current endoscopes handle all functions of the endoscope device, making performance limitations and maintainability an issue. In addition, it is expected that more cases in the future will require flexible feature enhancements and updates based on new user needs, such as remote diagnosis and real-time treatment. Therefore, NTT and Olympus are developing an endoscopy system in which operations with high processing loads, such as image processing, can be performed in the cloud.”

By sharing the processing load with GPUs in cloud-based data centers, users can receive the latest features through software updates and enable real-time remote diagnosis and treatment by sharing video information across multiple hospitals. To build a cloud endoscopy system, NTT and Olympus started demonstration experiments focusing on IOWN APN to solve technical problems in the network. In this demonstration experiment, the companies will build an experimental environment in which a real endoscope and a GPU server are connected through the IOWN APN, using it as a starting point to conduct further verifications. NTT says it will consider expanding use cases, such as promoting the use of other medical devices in the cloud, based on the knowledge gained from the current experiments.

NTT researchers have also developed a series of on-site manufacturing, maintenance and operation technologies necessary for the commercial introduction of four-core multi-core fiber optic transmission lines, which enable a communication fiber to have four times the capacity of current fiber. This achievement is expected to accelerate the practical application of four MCF optical transmission line cores in optical communications between data centers, where the demand for optical fiber cores continues to grow exponentially, and in subsea optical transmission segments, where space for laying optical fibers in optical cables is limited .

Make Moonshots Matter

Looking ahead, NTT annually invests $3.6 billion in global R&D scientific research and technology initiatives. Much of this investment capital – obviously – comes from its existing customer base, so one wonders how the company balances the need to be seen building technology that works in the here and now, while, equally, also showing evidence of technological progress for a The future era we have yet to enter in many industrial sectors and sectors.

As a real-world (out-of-this-world) example, NTT R&D is developing technology that will enable wireless power transmission to be connected without cables via Lunar regolith (moon dust, to you and me) so we can one day power rovers on the lunar surface. It’s not useful yet, but most people would agree that this is pretty amazing. At the same time, the company is helping to create extreme networking connections through undersea cables that have infinitesimal delays. It’s an app that works really well for video conferencing and even for soccer (sorry, soccer) commentators who present synchronously around the world. Definitely very useful.

There aren’t many tech companies focused on developing network solutions that span moons and penalties, but sometimes there’s a different attitude to innovation in the Far East, where NTT is from, so this duality can be perceived more reliably domestically first . What next, electronic toilets? This is old news, we must look to the stars.