Introduction
NTT West's IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network) concept is a vision for a network and information processing infrastructure, including terminals, that can provide high-speed, high-capacity communication and vast computing resources beyond the limits of existing infrastructure by utilizing innovative technologies centered on light.
Main Technical Areas of the IOWN Concept
The IOWN concept consists of the following three main technical areas:
1. All-Photonics Network (APN): Aims to significantly enhance the potential of the information processing infrastructure.
2. Digital Twin Computing (DTC): Creates a new world of services and applications.
3. Cognitive Foundation (CF): Aims for the optimal harmony of all ICT resources.
Efforts towards the Realization of the IOWN Concept
NTT West has established the IOWN Preparation WG in November 2020, with a medium-term perspective of solving social issues through the realization of the IOWN concept, and aims to create use cases using IOWN technology and achieve early business realization. In addition, NTT West is conducting detailed discussions with two co-creation partners adopted today towards the creation of future use cases using IOWN, and plans to conduct demonstration experiments in FY2024. After that, based on the content of the demonstration experiments, they aim for businessization through co-creation.
Conclusion
Currently, research and development are underway with the aim of finalizing specifications in 2024 and realization in 2030. A specific technical roadmap has been formulated and technology development is being promoted. For the main technologies that make up IOWN, a reference method will be formulated from 2021, and proposals will be made to the IOWN Global Forum (IOWN GF) to accelerate discussions and promote the development of specifications. In this way, the IOWN concept can be said to be a concept for creating a rich society that can accept diversity by optimizing individuals and the whole based on various information.
Comments