Can IWON Optical Communication Technology Become Japan’s Savior?

. KAWATO Akio

IWON stands for Innovative Optical & Wireless Network, an optical communications technology now being developed by NTT.

Light is also a form of electromagnetic wave, but it has several advantages over conventional radio-based communications. Above all, it allows vastly larger data capacity and longer-distance transmission. Data transmission capacity, NTT alleges, could increase by as much as 125 times, while power efficiency may improve by a factor of 100.

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With conventional electrical wiring, faster speeds and longer transmission distances mean sharply rising power consumption. Optical systems, however, can transmit huge volumes of data with only minimal increases in electricity use.

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Because of this large capacity and velocity of data transmission, urban and suburban data centers can be linked together and operated almost as if they were a single integrated facility. Such an integrated IT infrastructure could become an efficient “brain” for autonomous driving systems.

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Some in Japan argue that this technology should be combined with the 2-nanometer semiconductors that Rapidus is now preparing to manufacture at its new plant in Hokkaido. Their vision is for Japan to build an advantage by producing ultra-miniaturized AI-capable semiconductors and deploying them in autonomous vehicles, medical equipment, weapons systems, and other advanced technologies. If realized, this would create a high-speed, low-power integrated system linking data centers directly with end-user devices.

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But companies in other countries are pursuing much the same goal. Even if NTT or Japan gains an edge, the advantage is unlikely to last long. It may resemble the top ranks of sumo or professional tennis: the leading players are closely matched, winning and losing against one another while the overall level of competition steadily rises.

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My buddy ChatGPT puts it this way:

“There is no reason to assume that Japan is somehow doomed to lose advanced technology competition because the national character supposedly lacks imagination. If Japan can build eco-systems that allow people to take risks — especially in finance and investment — and if society becomes more tolerant of failure, it can compete perfectly well.”