The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) of Japan announced 5.54 billion yen (USD 37.9 million) in funding to develop 6G, innovative communications technology.
NICT has selected six projects, which will be conducted by seven companies, as part of its Social Implementation and Overseas Expansion Oriented Strategic Program under the 6G national plan.
Applications for the 6G research grants were accepted between April and May of this year. The Japanese body made its decision based on the evaluation by an external academic and expert committee.
Among the companies awarded funds are telecom giants NTT and NEC, which have been promoting their work on 6G over the past few years. The others are Sumitomo Electric Industries, Furukawa Electric, 1FINITY, APRESIA Systems, and THine Electronics.
Below, you can find a detailed description of each project provided by NICT.
Research and development project on multicore fibre technology for large-capacity undersea optical cable systems
Proposer: Sumitomo Electric Industries
Summary: This R&D project aims to realise a 2-petabit-class large-capacity undersea optical cable system by developing fibre mass production technology, high-density optical amplification technology, and high-strength fusion splicing technology in cooperation with regard to subsea multicore fibres with four or more cores.
Grant amount: 667.5 million yen (USD 4.56 million)
Research and development period: 2025 to 2028
Research and development project on multi-petabit-class submarine cable system technology
Proposer: NEC Corporation
Summary: In this research and development project, NEC will aim to develop competitive multi-petabit-class large-capacity submarine cable system technology to expand the transmission capacity of submarine cable systems, which is limited by the power supply capacity of power supply equipment and the internal space of cables and submarine equipment housings, and to establish technology to improve the flexibility and operability of the network.
Grant amount: 2.06 billion yen (USD 14.1 million)
Research and development period: 2025 to 2028
Research and development project on integrated platform technology for 1.6 Tbps-class optical transceivers
Proposers: NTT Innovative Devices Corporation (lead proposer), Furukawa Electric, 1FINITY
Summary: In this R&D project, the companies aim to realise a 1.6 Tbps-class coherent transceiver by developing liquid-cooling mounting technology that enables high-density mounting of optical transceivers, as well as high-density mounting technology for lasers and amplifiers. Additionally, they aim to establish compact transceiver realisation technologies, including these technologies, as an integrated platform technology.
Grant amount: 1.19 billion yen (USD 8.14 million)
Research and development period: FY2025 to FY2028
Research and development project on mobile fronthaul systems using all-optical networks
Proposer: APRESIA Systems
Summary: In this research and development project, APRESIA will develop technologies for redundant configuration between network devices and technologies for automating and enhancing monitoring and control, aiming to reduce power consumption and installation space when all-optical network technology is applied to the fronthaul of mobile communication networks.
Grant amount approved: 898.32 million yen (USD 6.14 million)
Research and development period: FY2025 to FY2027
Research and development project on multi-channel optical wiring integration technology for data centres
Proposer: THine Electronics
Summary: In this R&D project, THine will develop bandwidth compensation technology that contributes to the integration of multi-channel optical wiring, reducing power consumption within data centres and establishing the necessary technology to implement this integration.
Grant amount: 622.55 million yen (USD 4.25 million)
Research and development period: FY2025 to FY2027
Research and development project on fibre sensing technology contributing to the monitoring of social infrastructure
Proposer: NEC Corporation
Summary: In this research and development project, NEC will develop technology to monitor social infrastructure by sensing information such as vibration, temperature, and sound using existing optical fibres, in order to achieve early recovery from fibre cuts due to construction work or cable damage caused by natural disasters.
Grant amount: 105 million yen (USD 718,200)
Research and development period: FY2025 to FY2028
