Dr. Hiroki Harada has made great contributions to the development and practical application of mobile communications systems through his engagement in standard specification development for physical layer design of 4th generation (LTE: Long-Term Evolution and LTE-Advanced) and 5th generation (5G) radio interfaces in the 3GPP(3rd Generation Partnership Project), a standard development body for global mobile communications systems of the 3rd and subsequent generations.The first standardization activity Dr. Harada was engaged in was the study and specification development of small cell enhancement in 3GPP Release 12. He proposed small cell discovery and measurement technologies as technical components for improving network densification efficiency in order to accommodate the growing communications traffic, leading the development of physical layer specifications and terminal performance requirements. In Releases 13 and 14, he worked on the development of physical layer specifications for LTE-LAA (Licensed-Assisted Access), a technology to enhance communication speeds and capacity through the combined use of licensed and unlicensed frequency bands. He played a pivotal role in the development of TRs (Technical Reports) as a representative of worldwide telecommunications carriers by coordinating opinions from different companies on the requirements and cell planning scenarios. In addition, the numerous technical contributions he had proposed greatly contributed to accelerating the specification development of this advanced technology which was attracting worldwide attention. Today LTE-LAA technology is enabling higher-speed and higher-capacity communications in multiple countries and regions including the US as it has been implemented and commercially deployed in global terminals.
For the completion of the initial 5G standard specifications (Release 15), Dr. Harada also played a remarkable leadership role. He led the development of physical layer specifications for initial access and mobility technologies necessary for establishing connections and base station selection procedures between terminals and base stations as well as terminal performance requirements. He also successfully coordinated the entire 5G standard development activities joined by numerous companies, especially by presiding over discussions on the overall implementation of physical layer functions for 5G terminals.
Dr. Harada has thus made significant contributions to the industry by leading a series of standardization activities essential for the development and practical application of 4G and 5G mobile communications systems. He is expected to continue to play an indispensable role for the further development of mobile communications.
