Global News

The NTT International Researcher's Newsletter

No. 4, July 1994

Multi-Media Captures NTT Research Laboratories

The meaning of multi-media is not yet fully clear. Dr. Ikegami offered a working definition: "For the time being, it is a kind of networking among PCs and workstations." Most important is the personal computer (PC): "The PC is very versatile: it has a man-machine interface, a high performance computer, and, if you add a CD ROM, it has a very large memory. So everything is in this device. If we link these devices, we can offer many different kinds of services." NTT's responsibility is to provide the communications link, as well as to enhance useability and functionality.

Multi-media will require new hardware developments. "For instance, memory will be very significant. Large amounts of memory will be necessary for multimedia services. And also high speed devices are necessary, even at present. If we have a 10 Gbit/sec fiber optic system, for instance, can we obtain 10 Gbit from memory in a second? It will require very high speed processing between the memory and the communication channels."' Dr. Ikegami emphasized that hardware advances will continue to be one of the key elements in the implementation of multimedia, pointing out that multimedia terminals will require the advanced display (i.e., liquid crystal display) and memory technologies of Japanese manufacturers. The trend is demonstrated by Newton, a personal computing tool developed in the United States by Apple Computer and manufactured in Japan.

Dr. Tetsuhiko Ikegami

Software for multimedia will demand increasing attention. The multimedia terminal of the future, connected to all parts of the world, will need new and different types of software. Ikegami commented, "Research for hardware is straightforward, but software is very different, and very difficult. It is a kind of tool to realize some function desired by customers, and thus requires a kind of feedback loop." This will require changes in the way research is done: "... the production efficiency of software is very low. If resources are limited, and if we have to emphasis the software area, then we have to reduce hardware research."

NTT acknowledges that the best software development is done by software developers in the United States, and recently signed collaborative research and development agreements with Microsoft and several other prominent American computer-related companies. "We believe at present that the origin of R&D in multimedia will not be in Japan, will not be in the East Coast of the U.S., just in the West Coast. So we decided to touch upon some manufacturers in the West Coast area", said Dr. Ikegami. Will NTT establish research labs in Silicon Valley? "We have a West Coast NTT America office in Mountain View, California and they are enlarging their space because many researchers and engineers from NTT will join them. The people are on a mission of either collaboration or technical alliance with Microsoft, Silicon Graphics, or General Magic. I would like to send researchers or engineers having some mission. So it will look like a multimedia laboratory, but not an independent laboratory." From these beginnings, a stand-alone laboratory may emerge in the future.

The implications of these trends for international researchers at NTT are not yet clear. Certainly, the most recent developments in communications, including the emergence of multimedia, suggest a world that is increasingly without boundaries. NTT's future, now almost entirely dependent on the domestic situation in Japan, will become increasingly linked with developments in other parts of the world. This could lead to increased demand for capable international researchers, especially in the software development area. On the other hand, if NTT's position as the major supplier of telecommunication services in Japan is threatened or lost, either through failing to stay abreast of technological changes, or because of political developments, NTT Labs would be reduced in size. Nevertheless, demand for collaborations with foreign researchers would continue if they continue to generate good results. "We should be much more results-oriented. As for the basic research area, I will never say business-oriented, since I know it doesn't make sense".