Research and development for Beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G are accelerating, and the realization of the advanced wireless communication networks is expected to connect the terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks (NTN) seamlessly. B5G/6G will require further global spatial expansion of the network than the current 5G. In this talk, the mission and research vision of the wireless networks research center in NICT will be introduced.

Director General, Wireless Networks Research Center, Network Research Institute

Mr. Morio Toyoshima

In the Beyond 5G era, the main users of wireless communication will shift from humans to objects, and the diversification of requirements will progress further. In addition, as cyber-physical systems permeate various fields of society, the demand for wireless communication, such as increase of communication speed and capacity, and reduction of delay, will increase more than ever before. Against this background, the Wireless Systems Laboratory is engaged in research and development aimed at establishing new fundamental technologies for using radio waves that can coexist with existing systems and at developing design, verification, and evaluation platforms that support the expansion of wireless services in object-oriented systems. In this presentation, research and development especially for the advancement of 5G/local 5G are introduced.

Director, Wireless System Laboratory, Wireless Networks Research Center, Network Research Institute

Mr. Takeshi Matsumura

Next-generation mobility is expected to operate in a variety of locations, including flying vehicles, HAPS, drones, undersea robots and sensors. These are expected to have applications in various fields such as agriculture, industry, fisheries, surveying, and surveillance. Under these circumstances, wireless communication to connect these mobirities is also attracting increasing attention. Our laboratory has been conducting research and development of mobility communication technologies in the air and sea, and we will introduce these technologies in this presentation.

Senior researchar, Wireless System Laboratory, Wireless Networks Research Center, Network Research Institute

Mr. Takashi Matsuda

In R&D for Beyond 5G, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) are attracting attention due to their scalability and wide coverage potential. To realize NTN, it is necessary to interconnect with terrestrial communication systems, adapt to time-varying propagation environments, and manage multiple satellite operators. This presentation will introduce NICT's efforts in constructing NTNs, including the status of research and development on integrated network control, and the details of the "Development and Demonstration of Inter-Satellite Optical Communication Network System Project" within the "Key and Advanced Technology R&D through Cross Community Collaboration Program" that started this fiscal year.

Researcher, Space Communication Systems Laboratory, Wireless Networks Research Center, Network Research Institute

Mr. Yuma Abe

NICT is leading an effort towards enabling high-speed laser communication technology in practical scenarios with moving platforms. This seminar will introduce NICT's latest progress in the development of versatile terminals that can be employed in a variety of scenarios, from isolated P2P links to global B5G networks.

Researcher, Space Communication Systems Laboratory, Wireless Networks Research Center, Network Research Institute

Mr. Carrasco-Casado, Alberto

Senior Researcher, Sustainable ICT System Laboratory, Resilient ICT Research Center, Network Research Institute

Mr. Yasunori Owada

Associate Director General, Terahertz Technology Research Center

Mr. Akifumi Kasamatsu

The lecture reports on the NICT’s activities for the testbed development and provision to enable effective evaluation environments for the advanced and complicated systems in Beyond 5G era especially by indicating “B5G/IoT testbed with high reliability and high elasticity,” which was established in 2022 and was launched on October 2022. In order to cope with the highly complicated use cases over the evaluation environment, the required NICT testbed should include not only network layer such as wired and wireless network infrastructure, but also middleware layer supporting digital-twin and wireless-emulation, and platform layer supporting dig-data analysis and application development. Especially, the wireless emulation environment provided by the testbed enables wireless system evaluation without any radio emissions, thereby provides required and detailed system validation without costs for prototype implementation and acquisitions of various radio licenses. Furthermore, the lecture also remarks that the NICT testbed should be flexibly customized according to the assumed use cases.

Director General, ICT Testbed Research and Development Promotion Center

Mr. Fumihide Kojima

The realization of low-cost wireless networks with massive numbers of sensors has been hampered by the limited available wireless bandwidth. This presentation introduces a new method, called "Asynchronous Pulse Code Multiple Access (APCMA)", that allows tens of thousands of sensor nodes to transmit their data on the same frequency band at intervals of a few seconds. It uses sparse pulse sequences that are designed to achieve minimal interference with each other. Experiments have shown correct operation with 500 nodes on the 920 MHz band with pulses that are modulated by Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS). Applications range from assett tracking to factory automation.

Center for Information and Neural Networks

Mr. Ferdinand Peper

16:15-16:30　「Beyond 5G Design Initiative」

Director, Beyond 5G Design Initiative

Mr. Kentaro Ishizu