Vol.1 No.3 (July, 2006)

Special Issue: Dependable IT and Network Technology

KUNIO Takemitsu
Associate Senior Vice President

KANOH Toshiyuki General Manager, NEC System Platforms Research Laboratories
KIKUCHI Yoshihide Senior Manager, NEC System Platforms Research Laboratories
ARUTAKI Akira Associate Senior Vice President, NEC Communication Systems, Ltd.

The information and telecommunications infrastructure of Japan is headed toward a period of dramatic transition as it shifts to an all-IP paradigm,paving the way for the Ubiquitous Society. As a result of the rapid and widespread penetration of the Internet, Japan has already constructed a broadband environment that ranks among the top in the world, and is moving forward with the building of the all-IP Next Generation Network(NGN). Standing at the dawn of the NGN and looking to the future from perspective of the convergence of Information Technology (IT) and IP networks, NEC is focusing on making concrete steps toward the realization of safety and security which are indispensable for public information infrastructures. After first providing a brief explanation of the fundamental philosophy and concepts of the "dependable" IT and networks in this article,we will outline the other technologies to be introduced in this "Special Issue."

Network Platform Technology Domain

KAMIYA Satoshi, UENO Hiroshi, YAMADA Kenshin, NISHIHARA Motoo

In the next-generation network, different security levels are required for each segment of transport, network servers, network services,and enterprise networks. In order to achieve high-level overall security especially in the broadband environment where its line rate is above 10Gbps, multiple breakthroughs will be necessary in the various processing areas of network protocol processing,content check, and real-time monitoring of millions of sessions.
To achieve the breakthroughs, we have developed the security engine and related API/driver, and are hereby providing this paper.Furthermore, as system solutions utilizing our invention, we introduce 10Gbps intrusion detection system (IDS/IPS) and high-performance spam mail countermeasure system.

KITAMURA Tsutomu, SHIZUNO Takayuki, OKABE Toshiya, TANI Hideaki

The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which is expected to function as a substitute for the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is required to be highly dependable. To provide a dependable VoIP service, it is necessary to apply traffic controls such as rate control and filtering by accurately identifying the legitimate VoIP traffic from the prohibited traffic. NEC has developed a traffic identification technology that analyzes the packet exchange patterns as the key to traffic control without being dependent on the port numbers and signatures. When this technology is applied to a traffic control system, a dependable VoIP service can be implemented by traffic control based on the accurate identification of any Peer-to-Peer applications traffic that deteriorates the quality of the VoIP traffic.

YOSHIKAWA Takashi, KAMI Nobuharu

Network equipments must have high availability in order to compose a node of the dependable network. We have developed a conceptual prototype of the dependable system-platform named the Generation-Free Platform. Some technologies are installed and operate together to demonstrate reliable and scalable service deployment over the generation of services and technologies. The long-distance and protocol-free connectivity of optical interconnects enable us to confi gure a redundant group over plural chassis. Then the automatic availability management framework allocates resources for a certain service on the redundant resources. In that process, the physical information such as location of each resources, shared risk group, and failure rate is considered. The evaluation result of a prototype system shows the proposed framework achieves no complete system down unless multiple-point failure case. This corresponds to the same level of reliability as legacy manual risk management while the resource utilization efficiency is twice as high.

SHIMONISHI Hideyuki, YAMASAKI Yasuhiro, MURASE Tsutomu, KIRIHA Yoshiaki

This paper discusses the per-session quality measurement technology using packet sampling. IP networks are diversified by incorporating various applications and thus systems capable of performing detailed quality measurements at multiple points is one of the most important factors in enabling network dependability. The technology proposed in this paper has solved the problems both of the cost that hinders the installation of a large number of probes and that of the MIB monitoring not being of a satisfactory quality. This innovative approach is expected to contribute greatly to the construction of dependable networks.

TANOUE Katsumi, YOSHIDA Kaoru, MOCHIZUKI Takashi,
MORIMOTO Shinichi, KACHI Seiji

The spread of the mobile phone and wireless LAN has made it a matter of necessity to improve their dependability as life-support lines. This paper introduces dependability improvements for the next-generation mobile phone systems that are currently being standardized as well as outlining the efforts being made for improving the dependability of wireless LAN/WiMAX, which is designed to provide open, low-priced wireless communications.

OKABE Toshiya, NAKAI Shoichiro, SERA Takafumi
KAWATSU Masato, ITO Kazuhiro, KAWACHI Yasuro

The IT environments surrounding the carrier networks are changing. The communicating individuals and organizations and the contents of their communications have changed and the capabilities of the networks and terminals have improved significantly. These are now built using open technology systems and their roles are also changing in order to become platforms that incorporate various applications. This paper introduces measures required for the carrier networks to deal with the changing environments by categorizing them as four solutions. These include: anti-attack defense, anti-disaster, traffic control and operations management solutions.

IT System Technology Domain

MIZUTANI Fumitoshi, ABE Shinji

Since IT devices permeate the social infrastructure as life lines that support the ubiquitous society, they are required to be dependable systems with a higher reliability than ever before.
The ft server announced in February this year was developed for the purpose of achieving a robustness and availability in response to such tall orders on open platforms of industry standards. Features and critical technologies of the newly developed "GeminiEngine" LSI, which is the core of such systems, are introduced in this paper.

HIGASHI Kenji, UWAKUBO Shin'ichi, YASUBA Hiroki

With the increasing utilization of IT systems, due to the availability of broadband services and popularization of mobile phones, the influences of malfunctions are becoming greater as well. The concept of high availability is essential for building IT systems that make it possible to use the desired services whenever they are wanted and at the expected service levels, which are dependable IT systems. The causes of failures are diverse, ranging from the deterioration of hardware with age to malfunctions of complex and varied software, such as operating systems and middleware. Appropriate building technologies are necessary to realize IT systems that will not interrupt services when either scheduled or unexpected shut downs take place, while minimizing service down time. IT system building technologies with the assumption of failsafe systems are summarized in this paper.

System Device Technology Domain

INOUE Hiroaki, SATO Naoki

High-end embedded systems, such as digital home appliances, mobile phones and automotive information systems, are likely to require a mechanism to extend system functions by adding software after shipment. This paper reports an asymmetric multi-core platform, known as FIDES, which enhances robustness of such embedded systems. The FIDES platform is based on multi-core technology and features high performance with low power consumption. Moreover, the platform helps improve system reliability by separately executing basic functions (e.g., pre-installed applications) and additional functions (e.g., downloaded applications) on different processors.

MOCHIZUKI Yasunori, HAYASHI Yoshihiro, ODA Noriaki
TAKEUCHI Kiyoshi, TAKEDA Koichi

The IT terminals and devices of the Ubiquitous age are required to be safe and robust as well as being highly convenient and there is also a need for a greater reliability of the system LSIs that they use. Moreover, in the case of the most advanced LSIs that are under continual performance improvement, the microminituarization is approaching its physical limit so that the prevention of ageing and circuit malfunctions is becoming more important than ever. This paper introduces the recent developments in LSI reliability improvement technologies that have been developed by NEC for use in supercomputers and car-mount systems in which reliability over a wide temperature range is a critical feature.

Special Issue: Video Display Technology

NEC Technical Journal Editorial Office

Video data, which can carry a huge quantity of information, will play a starring role in the age of digital communications. While the development theme for the technology to display this video data covers a diverse and broad scope, the focused area of attention in this article is the liquid crystal display (LCD). We would like to introduce some of directions pursued by the NEC Group in the development of LCDs and of the innovative products that have resulted. In the field of LCDs, we will explain some of the technology that makes possible our LCD products that boast high added value. In the field of projectors, we will look at technology trends that have led to solutions and intelligent functions that make using projectors more convenient and user-friendly, and introduce some of the NEC products that feature them. In each and every one of these advances and products, you will catch a glimpse of the spirit that both defines the NEC Group and is realizing the potential of "Digital Image Communications."

LCDs

ITAKURA Naoki, ITO Tadayuki, OOKOSHI Yoichiro
KANDA Satoshi, MUTO Hideaki

The "multi-display" expands the desktop area to increase the amount of information displayed at a time and improve the work efficiency. The demand for multi-display environments is now higher than ever because they allow the users to recognize differences that cannot be noticed when only one display is used and also to correct with high accuracy; colors, uniformity and incomplete image displays. In an environment in which one person uses multiple displays, the bezel size of the display should be designed to be narrow. Moreover, when the number of displays is increased, it is also required that they should be "easy to install." Uniform display performance and improved ease of installation are advantageous to end users as well as to the constructors and systems developers of multi-display environments.

MIYAMOTO Tsuneo, HAYASHIDA Katsumi, MATSUI Seiji, MORI Kengo

The trend in improvements to the brightness and contrast of LCD panels is accelerating the shift in medical displays from CRT to LCD panels. In the field of medical displays a precise relative image evaluation between multiple displays is an essential function. However, the alignment of the white points across multiple LCD panels and the deviation of white points caused by deterioration with age are tend to result in a significant increase in the costs and service expenses. The newly developed displays introduced below employ a "new backlight system (called X-Light®)" with a white point adjustment capability that enables long hours of use with stable white points and brightness. Other features that allow the new displays to support accurate medical image diagnoses include the SA-SFT LCD panel that features high brightness and contrast, 11.5-bit gamma circuitry and an integral calibration system.

KATO Hiroshi, SUGITANI Chouei

Color management is an efficient means of ensuring the quality of color reproduction and is regarded as being one of the major issues in the printing industry. It is a total technology that manages the color reproduction of input devices such as scanners and digital cameras and of output devices such as display monitors and printers. It also ensures that satisfactory controls are applied throughout the process as far as the final printing. In color management, the display monitors must be able to offer a display performance that confirms a stable and long term, quality color finish. For this purpose, an LCD panel with a wide field angle was developed that features a wider color reproduction gamut and more impressive luminance/chrominance stability than has been available with previous display monitors.

SUZUKI Teruaki, MATSUSHIMA Jin, SASAKI Yoichi

In the conventional process of LCD panel fabrication, glass substrates are rubbed by a buffing cloth to align liquid crystals uniformly between the substrates. The "ion beam alignment technology" introduced in this paper is a liquid crystal alignment process that employs an ion particle beam accelerated at high speed, instead of the buffing cloth. Its extremely accurate processing capability allows the LCD panel to render high contrast and smooth images. The key to this technological development is that the materials and the process conditions have been optimized by evaluating the liquid crystal alignment anchoring strength using a newly established evaluation technology. The prototype LCD panel succeeded in achieving a contrast ratio of 1200:1 (25% higher than in conventional panels).

ASADA Hideki, SERA Kenji, KANEKO Setsuo

The SOG-LCD is formed by integrating the LCD and driver LSI functions onto a glass substrate and it is expected to achieve optimum display device status for personal/mobile equipment in the broadband age. By focusing on the two major technical trends of image quality/function improvement and driver integration this paper is intended to introduce the latest SOG-LCD technology developed by the NEC Corporation and the NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. This innovative technology is expected to evolve as one of the key support systems for the display devices of the Ubiquitous age.

Projectors

AGATA Kazuhiro, OGAWA Jun, FURUICHI Kunitaka
FUKUNAGA Hiroaki, TAKEUCHI Tadashi

As a result of improvements in the brightness and resolution of the front projectors used for the magnified display of information, the market for these compact and easily installable presentation tools has continued to show significant growth. In order to improve their performances even further, NEC Viewtechnology has developed a front-projection system that uses reflective lenses only to replace refractive lenses for the projection optics. The system configuration features four aspheric mirrors and achieves an ultra short focusing distance that enables projection onto a large 100-inch screen at a projection distance of only 0.65 meter.

TAKADA Jun, TSURUZONO Kengo, ISHII Eisaku
HIROAKI Toshihiko, HIKICHI Yasushi, KAWAI Yasuji

The introduction of wireless LAN environments has advanced rapidly in recent years. The effective rate of wireless LAN is about 4-6Mbps with the IEEE802.11b standard. However, NEC Viewtechnology has succeeded in implementing wireless LAN-compatible projectors that can be used conveniently in the limited bandwidth that is available. This has been achieved by developing a unique compression/decompression algorithm and by optimizing the PC screen in order to enable screen image capturing and data transmission systems. This paper introduces wireless LAN-compatible projectors and some of the innovative applications that are enabled by them.

SHIRAZAKI Makoto, TAKAHASHI Taichi, TANAKA Hiroki, NISHIMURA Akihiro

The iP Series of intelligent projectors (hereinafter abbreviated as "iP series projector") is a unique projector released by Nippon Avionics Co., Ltd. incorporating a high-resolution document camera function and iP Viewer presentation software (hereinafter abbreviated as "iP Viewer"). The document camera function allows the projectors to project the images of paper documents and samples as they are viewed.
The iP Viewer is designed for use in capturing and processing of projected data. This paper introduces these projects by focusing on their biggest features, which are the document camera function and the iP Viewer function.

General Papers

Dirk WESTHOFF, Joao GIRAO, Amardeo SARMA

This paper describes security solutions for collecting and processing data in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Adequate security capabilities for medium and large scale WSNs are a hard but necessary goal to achieve to prepare these networks for the market.
The paper includes an overview on security and reliability challenges for WSNs and introduces a toolbox concept to support such a framework.