NTT Corporation has increased its promotion of the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN). The company’s mission is to create a world with photonics as the basis for the next generation’s information, computing and communications infrastructure. The campaign has enjoyed overwhelming grassroots support. It now boasts more than 160 members from a cross-section of industries, with traditional big chip and server manufacturers standing shoulder to shoulder with internet heavyweights such as Google and Microsoft.
At the heart of IOWN’s development is a collaborative effort between NTT and Toshiba, focusing on innovative methods to convert photons into electric signals at the internet server level. This research is of immense importance because it helps solve the issue of addressing defects during high-speed data transmission. The IOWN Development Office, the secretariat for IOWN, is leading these activities. As a project led by Yosuke Aragane, they are only the latest of the path-inventing leaps towards data center operational transformation.
Groundbreaking Demonstration Highlights Potential of IOWN
During the recent Microsoft Inspire conference, NTT delivered a stunning world-first demonstration. They realized it in a high-speed, factory production remotely managed through an optical and wireless network operated from a data center 300 kilometers away. For NTT, this demonstration is an unprecedented accomplishment and first within the industry. It’s an example of how photonics can increase operational efficiency and enhance connectivity.
The implications of this technology go much deeper than just improving how operations can be better. NTT continues to make waves with IOWN. Their innovativeness is definitely accelerating important R&D in silicon photonics and optical packaging, both essential for the future of any large-scale data center. Takasumi Tanabe, a professor of electronics and electrical engineering at Tokyo’s Keio University, underscored IOWN’s critical importance. He is confident it will significantly supercharge research across these disciplines.
“At the device level, some aspects are more challenging,” – Takasumi Tanabe
As NTT looks ahead, the company aims to commercialize its second-generation Photonic Electric Converter (PEC) by 2026. This hardware is pivotal in NTT’s roadmap for IOWN, which envisions optical communication between circuit boards as a crucial advancement. After this stage, inter-chip links are expected to start making their way into chips by 2028, with intra-chip connections likely to be available by 2032.
Vision for Optical Communication in Data Centers
Data centers are taking a dramatic leap by moving from conventional electrical wiring to optical systems. This amendment takes a big step toward changing how widely data is shared. C. Sean Lawrence articulated this vision, stating, “The core idea is to move from electrical wiring to optical, inside data centers, between circuit boards in servers, between silicon packages on circuit boards, and eventually between the silicon die inside a package. We think we can revolutionize high-performance data transmission and computing by making this shift.”
Even with the promising direction of all these developments, experts are quick to recognize that there’s still much to be figured out. Even as Takasumi Tanabe warned us that we can’t completely realize an all-optical system without electronics for now, considering today’s technology. As we continue down the path toward requiring low power consumption levels, high bandwidth, and low latency, photonic devices will be key.
“A completely ‘all-optical’ system, in which electronics are removed entirely, may not be feasible with the current state of device physics,” – Takasumi Tanabe
This foresight coincides with the industry’s increasing alarm regarding the rapidly accelerating pace of change in computational requirements. In large part, these changes are being driven by developments in artificial intelligence (AI). Industry veteran Roy Rubenstein observed that the current AI-infatuation boom has brought computing back to the forefront of technological innovation.
“With the advent of AI,” Rubenstein adds, “Computing has returned to center of everything. If the AI boom slows, then the urgency will disappear. But if AI continues as it has done, in five years it will be much closer to that vision.” – Roy Rubenstein
The Future of Telecommunications and Data Infrastructure
As NTT continues down this exciting, ambitious road to a photonic future, it’s coming to terms with its troubled past. In the late 1990s, the company started to stumble. Its pioneering “i-mode” cellular internet service failed to take hold in other countries. What’s clear is that the organization has taken important lessons from their previous experiences. Today, it intentionally cultivates its strategies to position itself to capitalize on the booming need for innovative telecommunications solutions.
C. Sean Lawrence remarked on the urgency for telecommunications companies to adapt. “We need to think differently to overcome this.” He emphasized that the transition towards optical communication is not merely an option but a necessity for remaining competitive in an ever-evolving technological landscape.
The American telecommunications industry stands at a critical juncture. Simultaneously, it faces unprecedented challenges to maintain and enhance its position at the center of cloud computing and AI development progress. As Rubenstein pointed out, “Telcos have a history of missing out on opportunities like the cloud and AI, but their one strength is edge network connectivity, so this is their last chance to claim some territory.”