• Development of PEC (Photonic-Electronic Convergence) devices with low power consumption which suppresses heat generation
• PEC devices to enable photonic transmissions from conventional communication areas (high-capacity, long-distance transmission) to computing and mobile device areas (high-density, short-distance transmission)
• Major milestone in the global development of IOWN, NTT's next-generation communications and computing infrastructure comprised of three elements: an all-photonics network, digital twin computing and the Cognitive Foundation

Tokyo, Japan – On June 12, 2023, NTT Corporation (NTT) announced the establishment of NTT Innovative Devices Corporation to develop, design and manufacture photonic-electronic convergence (PEC) devices. These devices will advance NTT's deployment of its Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) initiative to build high-speed, high-capacity, ultra-low latency and low-power-consumption global communications and computing infrastructure through optics-based technologies.

Formed out of the integration of NTT Electronics and an R&D unit within NTT Laboratories, NTT Innovative Devices will maintain a global presence, manufacturing PEC devices in Japan while operating sales companies in the United States, Europe, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It currently employs more than 500 employees.

"The creation of NTT Innovative Devices marks a major milestone in a global deployment of photonics-based networking and computing," said the company's president and CEO, Hidehiro Tsukano. "Each device manufactured by our organization is a testament to decades of fundamental research and development undertaken by NTT's scientists and our collaborators. We are advancing and contributing to the larger societal goals of IOWN: creating a better, more sustainable, more equitable future for all."

The PEC hardware manufactured by NTT Innovative Devices combines both optical and electronic solutions into a single packaged device capable of higher performance, higher functionality and a more compact size. The benefits of the PEC device are the reduction of power and heat generated by the conventional electronics of network and computing equipment and other devices, while at the same time delivering extremely high speeds with low latency over long distances.

Today, the company is manufacturing the second-generation iteration of the PEC devices named CoPKG. CoPKG, which combines digital signal processing (DSP) and Silicon Photonics based optical circuits into one device, operates with a transmission capacity of 0.4Tbps to 0.8Tbps across transmission distances of 40 to 300 kilometers.

In 2025, NTT Innovative Devices plans to manufacture a third-generation device, an optical engine operating at a transmission capacity of 3.2Tbps across a transmission distance of between 10 meters to 2 kilometers. Additional iterations are planned for 2028 (fourth generation) and 2032 (fifth generation) with transmission speeds of 5Tbps (integrated in the device width of 5mm) and 15Tbps (width of 2mm), respectively, and transmission distances of 1 centimeter to 1 kilometer and approximately 1 centimeter, respectively.

While current-generation PEC devices from NTT Innovation are built for implementation in relatively long distance communications and data center interconnecting equipment, future implementation is planned for use within data centers, with future generations of PEC devices for servers, vehicles, personal computers and other devices including smartphones.

The establishment of NTT Innovative Devices supports NTT's global expansion of IOWN, which comprises three major technical fields:

1. All-Photonics Network (APN): photonics and optics-based technologies designed to achieve three performance targets: Ultra-high capacity (data processing of 125 times greater than networks today by volume), ultra-low latency (near-instant transmissions with end-to-end latency reduced by over 200 times) and ultra-low power consumption (with a goal of 100 times more efficiency than transmissions today, reducing carbon emissions by 45 percent).
2. Digital Twin Computing (DTC): an extension of conventional digital twins that leverages photonics-based computational capabilities to perform calculations on virtual models of objects and humans to accurately make predictions about the future.
3. Cognitive Foundation (CF): the optimized, autonomous control of ICT resources including cloud, edge, networks and devices based on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The IOWN initiative is supported by over 120 leading technology companies globally through the IOWN Global Forum, led by founding members NTT, Intel and SONY. NTT and the IOWN Global Forum are targeting the commercial realization of IOWN by 2030.