DOCOMO develops 5G glass antenna for 28 GHz

NTT DOCOMO, in partnership with AGC Inc. and Ericsson, has developed an antenna embedded in synthetic fused silica glass for transmitting and receiving 28 GHz 5G radio signals.

The antenna was used to verify 28 GHz 5G mobile communication with downlink speeds averaging 1.3 Gbps within a 100-meter range and reaching a maximum of 3.8 Gbps at 400 MHz.

The verification tests, which used a vehicle fitted with multiple antennas and traveling about 30 km/h, were conducted in the Sumida area of Tokyo between April 22 and May 28.

https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2019/0529_00.html

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Docomo and Itochu Logistics test LTE-M for trucks

NTT DOCOMO and Itochu Logistics Corp. are testing an IoT solution that uses easily deployed devices compatible with low-power, wide-area LTE-M technology to enable delivery businesses to visualize the status of outsourced trucks in their fleets. The trial will be conducted in the United States beginning in May 2019.

The solution involves placing hand-held, battery- or solar-powered devices in trucks to collect data, such as truck locations and frequency of sudden braking, which will be sent through an LTE network to a dedicated website. The solution can also provide temperature, humidity, brightness, etc. data depending on delivery needs, as well as notify customers via email when the trucks approach their destinations.

DOCOMO said the trial is part of the Globiot global-IoT initiative that it launched last year to provide global connectivity, operational support and consulting to Japanese enterprises.

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Keysight provides 5G NR device conformance test to DOCOMO

NTT DOCOMO has selected Keysight’s 5G Conformance Toolset, part of Keysight’s 5G network emulation solution portfolio, to ensure 5G new radio (NR) mobile devices comply to the latest 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards prior to market introduction of new 5G services.

Keysight’s 5G network emulation solutions were selected by NTT DOCOMO for characterizing and validating 5G NR mobile devices to ensure these operate as intended on the mobile operator’s 5G network. As an influential contributor to the 3GPP standards organization, Keysight helps mobile operators, such as NTT DOCOMO and its mobile device suppliers, confidently evolve with the latest 5G NR standards as defined by 3GPP and adopted in the GCF and PTCRB certification schemes.

"Keysight’s proven expertise in 5G and end-to-end 5G test solutions enable us to accelerate our 5G commercialization plans," said Toshiyuki Futakata, vice president and general manager of Communication Device Development Department, NTT DOCOMO. “By working with Keysight we are confident that our new 5G mobile devices comply to the latest 3GPP standards to meet our customers’ high expectations, enabling us to create new business opportunities based on 5G technology.”

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DOCOMO to sell its 24% stake in Hutchison Telephone HKG

NTT DOCOMO will sell its 24.1% stake in Hutchison Telephone Company Limited (HTCL), a mobile network operator in Hong Kong and Macau, and Hutchison 3G HK Holdings Limited (H3GHK) to Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings Limited (HTHKH).  The price is US$60 million.

After the deal closes in May 2019, HTCL will become a wholly owned subsidiary of HTHKH.

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Indonesia tests docomo sky drones for tower inspection

PT Solusi Tunas Pratama Tbk. (STP), a company that leases out telecommunication towers in Indonesia, is testing a service called "docomo sky for Tower Inspection" that uses drones to photograph base stations and telecom towers.

The system being tested is based on an operational drone-based tower inspection system developed by DOCOMO for its commercial network throughout Japan, and supports the "docomo sky" ground control station (GCS) app for assistance in inspection tasks, enabling drone operators to input flight data with ease. For the test, DOCOMO will provide its cloud-based platform for operational support and data analysis. The drones fly automatically, take photos and transmit the images via the platform in real time, enabling technicians to inspect the towers via the docomo sky web browser immediately.


https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2019/0326_00.html

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DOCOMO targets 5G game streaming in Japan

NTT DOCOMO announced an equity investment in cloud gaming pioneer Hatch Entertainment Ltd, provider of the world's first made-for-5G game streaming service in Finland.

DOCOMO has begun supporting Hatch's game streaming service in Japan, effective February 13.

Hatch currently streams rich, full-featured games over Wi-Fi or 4G networks in the Nordic countries plus the UK and Ireland. Hatch offers more than 100 games that are ready to play instantly, requiring no download, in-game paywall or costly specialized hardware. Users simply download Hatch's application from Google Play to their device to use the service for a flat monthly fee of JPY 550 (tax included).

Under the DOCOMO-Hatch partnership, customers in Japan will log into Hatch with their DOCOMO d ACCOUNTTM to play games and challenge other gamers on global leaderboards. Hatch games will also be available via the DOCOMO TV Terminal set-top box device that customers control with their smartphones.

Going forward, DOCOMO and Hatch plans to leverage the extra-high-speed, large-capacity, low-latency and massive-device connectivity of 5G for gaming. DOCOMO plans to launch its commercial 5G service in 2020.

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DOCOMO Ventures Invests in Shoof for IoT tracking

NTT DOCOMO Ventures has made an equity investment in Shoof Technologies, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California that is developing advanced wireless technology designed for the Industrial IoT.

Shoof claims its technology for asset monitoring and tracking overcomes the unreliable nature of current wireless technology. It offers a cloud platform and equipment such as base stations and tags to track assets in motion in any location in real time. It is applicable to a wide range of industrial markets with unmatched advantages, including scalability, ability for both indoor and outdoor tracking, a long communication range, blockchain-capable security authentication, open-network infrastructure, and is free of maintenance.

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DOCOMO expands its money transfer service

NTT DOCOMO is expanding its mobile overseas remittance service to China and Thailand, bringing the total number of destination countries and regions to 42. Remittances to 70 banks and financial institutions in China and 28 in Thailand will be possible for a flat fee of JPY 1,000 (tax free).

DOCOMO's mobile overseas remittance service, which launched in 2011, enables Japanese subscribers to send funds with ease and convenience to children studying abroad or family working overseas. It has also been used increasingly by DOCOMO's foreign subscribers in Japan to remit funds to family back home.

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DOCOMO tests edge computing for video processing

NTT DOCOMO has commenced a proof-of-concept (PoC) video IoT solution that will enable the interpretation and analysis of video data sourced from surveillance cameras using edge computing. DOCOMO will test the effectiveness of using edge computing to interpret and analyze video data. The edge computing will supplement processing performed in the cloud. As a first step, the PoC will test and evaluate the sourcing of data from surveillance cameras, aiming to develop a solution that uses existing cameras, requires no wired connectivity and does not involve the transmission of large quantities of data.

DOCOMO also confirmed a strategic investment in Cloudian, a Silicon Valley-based leader in enterprise object storage systems and developer of the Cloudian AI Box, a compact, high-speed AI data processing device equipped with camera connectivity and LTE / Wi-Fi capabilities, facilitating edge AI computing with both indoor and outdoor communications.

DOCOMO said the transfer and processing of large volumes of video data to the cloud have been a lengthy process involving significant delays and placing a considerable burden on cloud infrastructure and communication networks. Edge computing could help deal with these shortcomings and herald a new era of high-speed image recognition.

Cloudian raises $94 million for hyperscale data fabric

Wednesday, August 29, 2018  Cloudian  

Cloudian, a start-up offering a hyperscale data fabric for enterprises, raised $94 million in a Series E funding, bringing the company’s total funding to $173 million.

“Cloudian redefines enterprise storage with a global data fabric that integrates both private and public clouds — spanning across sites and around the globe — at an unprecedented scale that creates new opportunities for businesses to derive value from data,” Cloudian CEO Michael Tso. “Cloudian’s unique architecture offers the limitless scalability, simplicity, and cloud integration needed to enable the next generation of computing driven by advances such as IoT and machine learning technologies.”

The funding round included participation from investors Digital Alpha, Eight Roads Ventures, Goldman Sachs, INCJ, JPIC (Japan Post Investment Corporation), NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Inc. and WS (Wilson Sonsini) Investments.

“Computing now operates without physical boundaries, and customers need storage solutions that also span from the data center to the edge,” said Takayuki Inagawa, president & CEO of NTT DOCOMO Ventures. “Cloudian’s geo-distributed architecture creates a global fabric of storage assets that support the next generation of connected devices.”

Cloudian brings its S3 API interface to Azure Blob Storage

Wednesday, September 27, 2017  Azure, Cloudian  

Cloudian, a start-up based in San Mateo, California, is extending its hybrid cloud object storage system into Microsoft Azure.

Cloudian HyperCloud for Microsoft Azure leverages the company's S3 API interface to Azure Blob Storage. Cloudian said the world's largest Industrial Internet enterprise is using Cloudian HyperCloud for Azure to connect its Industrial Internet of Things solution to Azure Blob Storage.

"Cloudian HyperCloud for Azure is a game-changer for public cloud storage, enabling true bi-modal data storage across multiple cloud environments," said Michael Tso, Cloudian CEO and co-founder. "For the first time, customers have a fully supported, enterprise-ready solution to access their choice of cloud platforms from their S3-compliant applications. Customers can be up and running in minutes by launching HyperCloud from the Microsoft Azure Marketplace."

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DOCOMO tests live, 360° 8K video streaming

NTT DOCOMO is previewing the world's first 8K virtual reality (VR) live video streaming and viewing system 360° 8K video.

DOCOMO said its 8K VR system uses FPGAs for extra-fast processing and an algorithm for high-density mounting (maximizes FPGA processing) at 30 frames per second (fps).  A head-mounted display is used to view the 360° 8K video. The system stitches together five 4K fisheye videos from five outward-facing cameras in real time at 30fps. It leverages an 8K H.264 encoder for real-time compression, the real-time Panorama Cho Engine encoder to divide the 360° 8K video into multi-direction tiles, and a server to transmit tiles according to the user's viewing direction.

This system will be exhibited at DOCOMO 5G Open Lab Yotsuya.

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China Mobile and NTT DOCOMO back IoT Multi-vendor eSIM

China Mobile and NTT DOCOMO will launch an eSIM(1) solution to enable cross-vendor SIM profile switching from DOCOMO to China Mobile.

This allows DOCOMO customers from Japan with IoT equipment in China to switch the mobile numbers (profiles) of their IoT equipment from DOCOMO to China Mobile even with different SIM vendors adopted by the two operators, thus eliminating the need to replace physical SIM cards.

DOCOMO commercialized the eSIM solution in 2014 and launched a commercial service with Telefonica Brasil S.A. (Vivo) in 2015.

DOCOMO and China Mobile International signed an IoT Service Agreement including eSIM solution in November 2017.

DOCOMO has also been pursuing various eSIM projects through partnerships with international mobile operators including IoT World Alliance, SCFA and Conexus
. Gradual expansion to Europe, Asia, Middle East and America is planned.

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NTT DOCOMO announces leadership team

NTT DOCOMO confirmed it new leadership team, with Kazuhiro Yoshizawa continuing in his roles as president, CEO, and Member of the Board of Directors.

Hiroyasu Asami continues to lead the technical team in his roles as Chief Information Officer, Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Privacy Officer, and Member of the Board of Directors.

Hiroshi Tsujigami serves as Executive General Manager of Sales and Marketing Division, responsible for global business.

Kouji Furukawa serves as Executive General Manager of Corporate Sales and Marketing Division.

Hiroshi Nakamura is Executive General Manager of the R&D Innovation Division.

Hozumi Tamura is Executive General Manager of Network Division and General Manager of the Network Department.

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NEC and NTT DOCOMO conduct 5G medical test

NEC and NTT DOCOMO participated in field trials of remote medical examinations over a 5G network.

The 5G demonstration was carried out by NTT DOCOMO, the Wakayama Prefectural Government, and Wakayama Medical University and hosted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. NEC provided a 5G base station.

In this experiment, the 5G network enabled the realtime sharing of images taken by a 4K close-up camera, high-definition echocardiographic (echo) video and MRI images using a 4K video conference system between Wakayama Medical University and Kokuho Kawakami Clinic. Participants included doctors from the dermatology, cardiovascular internal medicine and orthopedic surgery departments of Wakayama Medical University and its hospital.

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NTT Docomo invests in Otonomo for car data sharing

NTT DOCOMO Ventures has made an equity investment in Otonomo Technologies Ltd., a start-up based in Herzeliya, Israel, that is developing a marketplace for connected car data. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Otonomo offers a centralized platform through which car-generated data parameters are packaged into data bundles and offered to service providers to create innovative new applications and services.

The Otonomo platform addresses functionality such as accounting, billing, security, market management, privacy protection, regulatory compliance, data anonymization and normalization, API linkage and more. The company says it is engaged with dozens of auto manufacturers and Telematics Service Providers, and has an ecosystem comprising many dozens of partners.

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NTT DOCOMO licenses its IP to Samsung

NTT DOCOMO has granted a patent license to Samsung Electronics Co. covering DOCOMO's standard-essential patents. Samsung will pay an undisclosed licensing fee to DOCOMO.

DOCOMO confirmed that it has now granted standard-essential patent licenses to more than 30 companies. The company said its R&D and patent licensing covers mobile-network and service technologies for systems based on the W-CDMA, LTE, LTE-Advanced and to-be-standardized 5G standards.

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Gemalto and DOCOMO develop multi-profile SIMs

NTT DOCOMO and Gemalto announced the world's first multi-profile SIM for use in multi-carrier collaborative services, allowing users to switch between profiles, which include data such as contact information and telephone numbers, on their smartphone or tablet in multiple countries.

DOCOMO said the new SIM will help customers planning to stay overseas long term, such as expatriates and students, to access the DOCOMO network while in Japan, but also enjoy voice and data communications services provided directly by affiliated carriers in their respective service areas overseas, thus avoiding the need to insert the SIM card of a local carrier or carry a rental device.

The multi-profile SIM draws on DOCOMO's experience in international communications services and Gemalto's telecommunications know-how. The commercial launch is expected sometime in fiscal 2018.

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DOCOMO and Sumitomo Electric test real-time traffic monitoring with 5G

Sumitomo Electric Industries and NTT DOCOMO are looking to 5G to power the real-time collection and delivery of traffic information using high-definition sensors.

Tests, which are being conducted at a course within the Yokohama Works of Sumitomo Electric, use sensors installed along the course and in vehicles.
Traffic information is analyzed in real time and then fed back to drivers and pedestrians.

The vehicles are also equipped with DOCOMO 5G terminals that communicate with DOCOMO 5G base stations at the course.

Sumitomo Electric and DOCOMO will continue to develop their advanced driving-assistance system based on 5G mobile communications.

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DOCOMO Pacific ATISA Guam subsea cable ready for service

DOCOMO Pacific, a service provider in the Marianas and a subsidiary of Japan's NTT DOCOMO, announced that construction and testing of the 183-mile ATISA submarine optical cable system connecting Guam to the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has been completed and the system is now ready for service.

The ATISA submarine cable, for which a supply contract was signed in February 2016, was recently landed and connected to the terrestrial fibre networks on Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota. The system will be launched with an initial operating capacity of 200 Gbit/s, while offering a total design capacity of 7.2 Tbit/s.

DOCOMO Pacific will now begin providing connectivity services to enterprise customers, and stated that it is already serving its first enterprise partner, the Commonwealth Port Authority, which operates the Francisco C. Ada Saipan international airport, with high-speed Internet connectivity. ATISA also connects the CNMI with Guam, where local businesses and government agencies can connect to other cable systems.

Additionally, from August this year, DOCOMO Pacific plans to start offering mobile, cable TV, online and home telephone services for residential customers in the CNMI.

For the ATISA cable system, DOCOMO Pacific selected NEC to design and build the cable and Ciena's submarine GeoMesh solution to provide 100 Gbit/s wavelengths and to facilitate the delivery of new on-demand services for end users. The Ciena solution is designed to offer scalability to support communications requirements over the lifetime of the cable.

Additionally, Ocean Specialists (OSI), a submarine optical cable consulting firm, advised DOCOMO Pacific on the project and provided project management support.

DOCOMO Pacific noted that ATISA is the second undersea cable in the CNMI and the first new system to be built in nearly twenty years. The company stated that the cable system involved investment of over $16 million for the cable, plus an additional $9 million to modernise and expand its fixed and mobile networks in the CNMI.

http://bettertogether.pr.co/

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NTT DOCOMO Outlines a Medium-term Strategy

NTT DOCOMO outlined six principles that will constitute its new medium-term strategy through the 2020 fiscal year.  The six declarations are aimed at fostering an innovative business structure in the coming era of 5G.

The six declarations of DOCOMO's new plan are as follows:

Market leader - DOCOMO aims to lead the market in value propositions by further integrating and evolving its services, actively returning value to customers through a wide array of tangible benefits, including strengthened loyalty programs and attractive billing plans. By fiscal 2020, the total number of "d POINT" partners will be increased to more than 300 partners, with the aim of establishing "d POINT" as one of Japan's largest point programs.

Style innovation - Leveraging the strengths of 5G, DOCOMO will launch a wide range of exciting and unexpected services under a company-wide project called "empower+d challenge" (empowered challenge), which will enable customers to realize their aspirations and achieve greater affluence. In particular, through the creative application of virtual reality, artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT technologies, DOCOMO will offer all-new innovation for customer experiences, lifestyles and work styles.

Peace of mind and comfort support - DOCOMO will use AI to develop all-new customer contact points for the provision of optimal, stress-free support for each customer, anytime and anywhere, with a special emphasis on reducing customer wait times. A new system will enable customers to consult their smartphones about a wide range of issues, and measures for enhanced communication will be implemented for issues requiring specialized assistance.

Industry creation - DOCOMO, the leader in emerging 5G technologies and services, will collaborate with partners across a wide range of industries to contribute to social and industrial development through 5G technologies. From late May 2017, 5G trial sites will be launched to enable partner companies and DOCOMO to collaborate in creating standard-setting new services that leverage 5G strengths including low latency, ultra-high speed, ultra-large capacity and massive device connectivity.

Solution co-creation - DOCOMO also will collaborate with partners in six key fields-primary industries, education, sports, healthcare, mobility and work style reform-aiming to contribute to further growth and prosperity in Japan, including through the vitalization of regional economies. In the case of work style reform, collaborations will facilitate telework environments and share offices, to be introduced this year.

Partner business expansion - The plan's sixth declaration is the further enhancement and evolution of DOCOMO's business platforms for loyalty points, customer referrals, FinTech, AI agents, IoT, drones and other business areas, which partners will use to expand transaction flows, develop new business and realize higher levels of productivity.

https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2017/0427_00.html

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NTT DOCOMO Works with Qualcomm and Ericsson on 5G NR trials

NTT DOCOMO plans to conduct interoperability testing and over-the-air field trials in Japan based on the 5G New Radio (NR) specifications being developed by 3GPP. The trials will operate in mid-band spectrum at 4.5 GHz, as well as millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum at 28 GHz, showcasing the unified 5G NR design across diverse spectrum bands. The trials intend to drive the mobile ecosystem toward rapid validation and commercialization of 5G NR technologies at scale, enabling timely commercial network launches based on 3GPP Rel-15 standard compliant 5G NR infrastructure and devices.

The trials will utilize device prototype and base station solutions from Qualcomm Technologies and Ericsson respectively, along with trial environments from NTT DOCOMO, to simulate real-world scenarios across a broad set of use cases and deployment scenarios. The trial will include 5G NR operation at 4.5 GHz, which allows a large bandwidth resulting in high data rates and good capacity with reasonable coverage to address the large number of envisioned 5G use cases.

The trial will showcase advanced 3GPP 5G NR technologies including Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna technology, beamforming techniques, adaptive self-contained TDD, scalable OFDM-based waveforms to support wider bandwidths, advanced coding and modulation schemes, and a new flexible, low-latency slot structure based design. In addition, the trial will include 5G NR operation in mmWave spectrum at 28 GHz, employing advanced 5G NR antenna technology to deliver robust and sustained mobile broadband communications, including non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments and device mobility.

"We are excited to conduct early 5G NR trials based on the 3GPP specification with Qualcomm Technologies and Ericsson," said Seizo Onoe, EVP and Chief Technology Officer, NTT DOCOMO. "NTT DOCOMO plans to deploy a 5G NR commercial system by 2020 and it is essential that the industry cooperate closely to create a 5G ecosystem in a timely manner. Through acceleration of the standardization and standard-compliant 5G NR trial activities, we will ensure the highly-stable 5G services."

https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2017/0227_02.html

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