NTT Corporation and Toshiba Corporation have jointly announced the development of a cutting-edge high-speed factory production system. This system functions through a futuristic optical and wireless network. Perhaps even more surprisingly, this vast network is all managed from a centralized data center over 300 kilometers away. This live demonstration is a great example of the transformational innovative potential of photonics as a disruptive information and communications infrastructure. NTT has been a leading advocate of this trailblazing idea within the technology sector.
The demonstration unfolded against the backdrop of NTT’s larger campaign to reimagine how and where data is routed and handled. While they have high goals, the company’s Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) initiative has a strong aim in mind. Drawing the complete picture This project will help advance optical communication technologies, from inter-chip links down to intra-chip connections.
Advancing Optical Communication
NTT has set up a specialized development office for IOWN, headed by Yosuke Aragane. The project’s grand aim is to develop a whole new paradigm for communications technology using mainly optical transmission. The project will transition into its second phase, exploring new optical communications breakthroughs between circuit boards. We aim to link inter-chip links by 2028 and intra-chip connections by 2032.
The roadmap is indicative of a broader trend away from electrical interconnects that will increasingly find optical solutions replacing copper links across the data center floor. As articulated by project expert C. Sean Lawrence, innovative thinking is key to success. He agrees that the center is essential for tackling the tech challenges of today.
“We need to think differently to overcome this,” – C. Sean Lawrence
Lawrence stated, “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.” This transition is critical for improving productivity and cutting energy usage in a multitude of sectors and uses.
Collaborations and Future Developments
Recently, NTT joined forces with U.S. chipmaker Broadcom and other industry peers. Together, they intend to commercialize the second-generation PEC (Photonic Integrated Circuit) by 2026. These institutions represent a decade of expertise and the potential to further advance the future of optical technologies. Over 160 members, including all major chip manufacturers and tech giants such as Google and Microsoft, are on board of IOWN as active participants. This effort is a major step forward for research and development in the fields of silicon photonics and optical packaging.
According to Takasumi Tanabe, a professor of electronics and electrical engineering at Keio University, IOWN is critical to advancing these fields. He stressed the great achievements ITU-T’s IOWN initiative. Fiber optic cables have changed the data transmission game immensely, as he broke down for us. There are still challenges down the line at the internet server level — where photons become electric signals — when it comes to scalability.
“At the device level, some aspects are more challenging,” – Takasumi Tanabe
Tanabe warned against overhyping the prospects for developing entirely “all-optical” systems. He remarked, “A completely ‘all-optical’ system, in which electronics are removed entirely, may not be feasible with the current state of device physics.” He remains hopeful and confident about photonic devices’ future. Such technologies are key enablers for systems where low power, high bandwidth and low latency are mission-critical, for example.
Addressing Energy Consumption Challenges
A key focus of NTT and Toshiba’s collaboration is addressing the significant energy consumption associated with converting photons to electric signals at the server level. The approaches used today are still energy-intensive, becoming barriers to scaling and long-term sustainability.
The latency in data transfer on that recent demonstration was just 17 milliseconds. This all serves to illustrate the remarkable speed gains that optical networks uniquely enable. These types of breakthroughs in AI applications held the promise of enabling lower cost manufacturing and more connected, intelligent factories of the future.
While NTT has been making pioneering steps, it faced obstacles during its journey. Take, for example, its failed effort to export the success of its “i-mode” cellular internet abroad in 1999. With ambitious development plans of their own, IOWN is working with most of the large tech players. NTT hopes to take the lessons of previous generations and jump forward into the next era with advanced technology.