| Hiromichi Shinohara |
After joining Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, Mr. Shinohara committed himself to R&D and the widespread deployment of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) systems, to help Japanfs broadband become world-class and to create a vibrant ICT society. At the beginning of the 1980s, the term optical fiber was a technical term known only to a relatively small group of engineers. Today, there are over 25 million FTTH subscribers in Japan, and optical fiber is a widely used term known to virtually everyone. We enjoy a richer and smarter quality of life thanks in no small part to the penetration and availability optical fiber-based services. Working closely with industry and academia, Mr. Shinohara has contributed significantly to the development and deployment of FTTH upon which modern society depends, from the first inception of the technology to the deployment of fiber in residential networks.
An achievement deserving special note is the ability to deploy a cost-effective optical network interconnecting a backbone network with access networks containing orders of magnitude vaster quantities of equipment and parts. By installing an optical splitter between a central office and subscriber homes, a single fiber can be shared by a number of subscribers, thus permitting huge cost savings when deploying FTTH networks. This achievement made it possible to develop GE-PON systems that support bi-directional 1 Gbit/s high-speed and stable communication far beyond the speed of DSL lines. The system also supports a range of noteworthy functional capabilities; burst signal reception, bandwidth control that permits optimum fair use of bandwidth among multiple subscribers, and authentication that permits secure communications. Moreover, the use of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology has permitted the successful development of a video distribution system capable of simultaneously delivering over 200 video channels through the fiber used for the GE-PON system. Combining these technologies has opened the way to a practical and cost-effective FTTH system that can be widely deployed over an extensive area and that is capable of delivering broadband communications and multichannel video signals.
Mr. Shinohara also helped overcome the inherent weaknesses of optical fiber, namely its vulnerability to bending loss and the difficulty of connecting fibers, with a simple wiring scheme that was as convenient as metal and a simple interconnector, thus enabling the rapid deployment of FTTH networks that we see today. NTT employed hole-assisted fiber, which is insensitive to bending loss, and field-assembly optical connectors, to develop an optical fiber cable technology well in advance of the rest of the world, and this do-it-yourself approach to premises wiring has contributed greatly to the operability of Japan's FTTH networks.
In his role as Senior Vice President of the Information Sharing Laboratory Group from 2007 and as Head of the R&D Strategy Department from 2009, Mr. Shinohara has contributed to the whole range of technologies from basic communication systems to electronic/photonic devices, media technologies, security-related technologies, and more. He has engaged in enhancing technological leadership and competitiveness from basic research to practical deployment thus making NTT a global leader, while also tending to the education and training of younger researchers.
For the achievements outlined above, Mr. Shinohara received the 2006 Commendation for Science and Technology from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Kenjiro Sakurai Memorial Prize awarded by the Optoelectronics Industry and Technology Development Association (OITDA). For his service as the IEICE Director of Journal and Transactions from 2005 to 2006, as the Tokyo Section Chair in 2009, and for his vast range of accomplishments in the areas of information and communications, we endorse Hiromichi Shinohara as an excellent candidate for the Distinguished Achievement and Contributions Award.
