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NEC J. of Adv. Tech., Winter 2005100

News

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The Foundation for C&C Promotion (President:Hajime Sasaki, Chairman of the Board, NEC Corpo-ration) was established as a nonprofit organizationfunded by the NEC Corporation in March of 1985. Itwas established to promote pioneering research anddevelopment efforts related to C&C, the integration ofcomputers and communications technologies, withthe aim of advancing the sciences, advancing commu-nication between people, and contributing to a culturein which each person can reach their maximum po-tential.

In order to advance these objectives, the founda-tion has three main activities: 1) awards (C&CPrizes), 2) grants (for researchers attending interna-tional conferences, for non-Japanese researchers, andfor receivers of doctorates), and 3) surveys and re-search.

The year 2004 marks the 20th year of awardspresentation by the Foundation for C&C Promotion.The 2004 C&C Prize was announced in a presenta-tion ceremony at the Hotel Okura on January 26th,2004. This year, 3 awards were given for researchersin two separate research areas.

The first was for Dr. Zen’iti Kiyasu, Former Profes-sor of Tohoku University and Former Executive VicePresident of Iwatsu Electric Co., Ltd. for “Pioneeringcontributions to the information communication in-dustry by leading research and authoring textbookson basic theories for electronic circuitry, computers,and communications, and for the development of vari-ous systems such as those for PCM communications,error correction coding, computers, and electronicswitching.” His development of the first paramatroncomputer named MUSASINO-I and magnetic storagesystems built the foundation of the Japanese com-puter industry.

Dr. Kiyasu always pioneered and led with newways. He foresaw close connection between comput-ers and communications technologies that was toarise. Many human resources have been cultivated byhim.

The second C&C Prize was for Prof. John L.Hennessy, President and Prof. of Electrical Engineer-ing and Computer Science, Stanford Univ. and Prof.David A. Patterson, Prof. of Computer Science, Univ.

of California, Berkeley for “Contributions to the ad-vancement of computer science, engineering, and in-dustry through inspiring textbooks, research, andprofessional services for computer architecture.”They have contributed to the advancement of com-puter architecture. After the invention of RISC archi-tecture by John Cocke (the recipient of the 1994 C&CPrize) they further developed RISC architecture andbuilt RISC based VLSI processors. MIPS and SPARCRISC chips are the result of their effort and are usedby many servers and workstations and are also usedas embedded processors for game machines, termi-nals, and communication equipment. Co-authoredtextbooks on computer architecture have been widelyread worldwide.

Their contribution to R&D, transfer of technologyto industry, and the cultivation of human resourcesare highly appreciated.

At the awards ceremony, President Sasaki pre-sented a certificate, a plaque, and a cash award(10,000,000 yen) to recipients, respectively. After theawards ceremony, the three scientists presented ac-ceptance speeches, followed by a reception.

Foundation for C&C Promotion

2004 C&C Prize Recipients are Honored

Photo 1 2004 Prize Recipients (from left, Dr.Kiyasu and his wife, President Sasaki,Prof. Hennessy and his wife, Prof.Patterson and his wife.).

NEC Journal of Advanced Technology, Vol. 2, No. 1 101

News

NEC Corporation announced that it has reorga-nized its platform strategy for 3rd Generation (3G)mobile terminals.

As part of NEC’s new 3G (dual mode of W-CDMAand GSM/GPRS) mobile terminal platform strategyfor global business, NEC will employ additional plat-forms from Qualcomm Incorporated and Ericsson Mo-bile Platforms.

NEC has recently announced its strategic move tojointly develop system LSI for 3G with NEC Electron-ics Corporation (http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/0411/2201.html). With these platforms and current plat-form in place, NEC will be ready to offer a widerrange of 3G mobile terminals to meet the variousdemands of 3G mobile operators and end users in atimely manner, because the services and functionsrequired to advance 3G services vary in the future as3G market grows and expands globally.

The platform strategy will be modeled based on itssuccess of 2.5G mobile terminal product developmentstrategy driven by NEC’s Chinese operation. In re-cent years, NEC rapidly organized its mobile termi-nal business structure in China by effectively combin-ing its resources in Japan and China and those of itspartners such as Techfaith Wireless, the largest de-sign house group in China, STEP Technologies, ajoint venture of Techfaith Wireless and NEC, andother design houses in China, Korea and Taiwan. Thenew business structure has empowered NEC withhighly effective and speedy product development tointroduce many products to the market in a shortperiod. NEC recently launched its flagship modelsand other terminals which come in a variety of de-signs and functions, demonstrating NEC’s cutting-edge mobile technologies in China. More than 20 vari-eties of terminals will be launched this year forChina. NEC Telecom (China) is playing a key role indeveloping new products not only for China but forthe global market by adjusting its platforms devel-oped in China for other markets. Such know-how in2.5G will add value to its 3G development globally.

By utilizing Qualcomm’s platform, NEC has intro-duced prototype of new 3G handset which features avery small and compact design of 86.1cc in volume,

89g in weight and 117mm × 46mm × 16mm in dimen-sions. It is developed as a popular 3G model with highfunctionality such as 3G video function, by fully uti-lizing its resources and staff in China. NEC willlaunch this terminal at the beginning of 2005 andintends to propose it to carriers in China for their 3Gtrials.

At the same time, NEC has started developing new3G handset by using technology supplied by EricssonMobile Platforms — a company that brings experi-ence from developing technology for over 200 millionunits of mobile phones deployed in over 100 countriesin the world. NEC will introduce its first commercialterminal of this platform within the 1st half ofFY2005 (April 2005-September 2005). NEC will fur-ther propose the supply of new EMP-based 3G termi-nals to Hutchison 3G group and other 3G operators.

By combining these new platforms, mobile and ra-dio technologies and cutting-edge production tech-nologies, particularly in ultra-thin packaging technol-ogy which realizes card-shaped mobile terminal(http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/0402/0301.html), NECwill introduce attractive and compact 3G terminals tothe global market in an effective manner.

Corporate Communications Division

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Photo 2 Prototype of NEC’s 3G terminal real-ized by Qualcomm Platform.

(a) Front view. (b) Rear view.

NEC Reorganizes Its 3rd Generation Mobile Terminal Platform Strategyfor Global Business


NEC Corporation and NEC Malaysia announcednew Mobile Phones “e238” and “e101” to Malaysia.NEC also reveals its new branding strategy and slo-gan “Get Personal,” which is in line with NEC’s globalcorporate statement “Empowered by Innovation,” tofurther expand its mobile business in Malaysia.

Starting with these two new models with threecolor variation as one of the key products, NEC willpursue its new strategy to enter into the wider-rangeproduct market segment to appeal to various consum-ers in Malaysia. With the new and specific targetmarket segmentation, NEC will further launch prod-ucts answering to the requirements from every cus-tomer of each segment.

“Get Personal is a new slogan to help NEC increaseits awareness in the mobile terminals arena andbuild brand loyalty in Malaysia. We are aiming toposition the company as the most creative, leadingmobile solutions company within 2 years. Variety ofmobile terminals are being introduced for the globalmarket this year. This new slogan will be a dynamicstep towards strengthening NEC’s presence in theMalaysian mobile market, and is also in line with thestrategic move to expand NEC’s mobile business glo-bally.” said Mr. Hiromi Orikasa, General Manager ofMobile Terminals Marketing & Sales Division, NECCorporation.

“Our latest challenge regarding current brand per-

ception is to create a unique, human and user-friendly image, showing NEC’s deeper level of com-munication with consumers by defining ourselves asa “people company,” which proactively reaches out tocustomers to gain knowledge about their needs inMalaysia. Then, customers can acquire not only thelatest state-of-the-art technology but also a mobilephone that suits their own lifestyle.” said Mr. TakaoShimada, Managing Director of NEC Malaysia SdnBhd.

The new models introduced today are clamshell-shaped e238 & e101. They target a wider range ofpeople, from business to individuals, with friendly,simple and stylish designs. The feature-packed e238are equipped with 300,000 pixels digital camera withvarious camera functions, 1.9 inch color large TFTscreen with 65,000 colors, JAVA and MMS. The e238also feature 64 polyphonic ring tones and also supportmotion jpeg, movie CLI, MP3, IRDA and USB connec-tivity, among other things.

“Malaysia is one of NEC’s most important marketswhere NEC can demonstrate its full competence inmobile internet. NEC expects further strong initia-tives by NEC Malaysia will help create the marketand aid NEC in obtaining a leading position there.”said Mr. Orikasa.


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Photo 3 New mobile phones to Malaysia.

(a) e238. (b) e101.

NEC to Launch New Mobile Phones to Malaysia- New Brand Strategy & Slogan “Get Personal” To Expand Mobile Busi-ness in Malaysia -


News

NEC Corporation announced that it has receivedan order for its Messaging Intelligent Router MMS(MIR) solution from Telefónica Móviles España, S.A.,Spain’s largest mobile operator with 18.7 million sub-scribers. With a population of 41.11 million peopleand an 83% mobile phone penetration rate, Spainboasts one of the highest levels of mobile phone pen-etration in Europe.

The MIR Solution is a server software system thatcan easily be added on to existing MMS (MultimediaMessaging Service) and mail server systems of mobileoperators. The MIR solution is an advanced, newmethod to extract necessary data from MMSs andtransfer it to a charging system enabling flexible andattractive charging menus. NEC has realized theMIR Solution for Telefónica Móviles by integratingMIR and existing systems provided by other vendorsdemonstrating its system integration capabilities inmobile solutions.

The main function of MIR is to transfer requiredinformation contained in MMSs to charging systemsto create CDR. In case of different MMS/mail systemsare employed, MIR distributes mail traffics from mo-bile handsets into mail servers according to the loadof the traffic. In case of problems with the system orrestriction from individual customer, MIR can auto-matically decide distribution control. Also in case oftroubles MIR can create data required for charging.

NEC’s MIR functions enable various chargingmenus. Depending on the users’ attributes or user-group, a package rate or discount can be offered suchas a corporate discount menu. Additional servicessuch as a birthday discount or a special discount byage can also be incorporated with users’ personalinformation. In addition, the charging menu can bevaried by mail content such as text mail, photo at-tached mail or video clip mail.

Multimedia content distribution, together withMultimedia Messaging Service (MMS) were launchedin 2002, and are vital elements in the business strate-gies of European and Asian mobile operators lookingfor ways to increase their average revenue per user(ARPU, i.e., per user sales). Multimedia services will,while stimulating new user demand, also trigger newmobile terminal sales.

With the introduction of NEC’s MIR Solution, end-users can enjoy attractive charging services, whilemobile operators can provide highly detailed andvalue added charging menus to increase subscribersand expand their ARPU.

Since June 2003, NEC has, using i-mode technol-ogy and know-how provided by NTT DoCoMo, sup-plied Telefónica Móviles España with the mobileInternet platform system and i-mode terminals re-quired for its MoviStar emocion mobile Internet ser-vice. NEC has also supplied mobile Internet serviceplatforms using i-mode technology to FE Telecom inTaiwan, Bouygues Telecom in France, WIND in Italy,Cosmote in Greece and Telstra in Australia. Transferof all these systems has proceeded smoothly. To NEC,the new order from Telefónica Móviles not only addsto a growing record of success overseas; it is also anopportunity to strengthen its business as a supplier ofnon-i-mode-platform technology in the mobileInternet sector. As the telecommunications worldtransitions from 2.5G to 3G, NEC looks forward tofurther fleshing out its mobile Internet applicationline-up and actively developing new mobile Internetplatform businesses targeting mobile telecommunica-tions providers aiming to increase profitability andimprove customer satisfaction, by offering attractivemobile Internet services.


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NEC Corporation and NEC Electronics Corpora-tion announced that they had entered into a closecollaboration to jointly develop a system LSI for 3Gmobile terminals, in line with NEC’s strategy to

strengthen the competitiveness of its 3G mobile ter-minal platforms for the global market. NEC formed astrong partnership with NEC Electronics, the leaderin single-mode (W-CDMA) 3G baseband LSIs in

NEC’s MIR Solution to Expand Introduction of Mobile Multimedia Serviceswith Flexible Charging Method- Telefónica Móviles in Spain will be the first user to adopt this solution -

NEC and NEC Electronics Join Forces to Develop System LSIs for 3GMobile Terminals


Japan, and the two companies will jointly develop adual-mode (W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE) 3Gbaseband LSI which will be the core of 3G mobileterminals.

NEC and NEC Electronics formed a joint projectteam and commenced development recently to realizea globally competitive LSI. NEC’s mobile terminalsbusiness unit will be responsible for defining basicLSI specifications and verifying the LSI to be embed-ded in the mobile terminals. NEC Electronics will beresponsible for the LSI design, development and pro-duction. The first mobile terminal which employs theLSI will be introduced to the market between October2006 and March 2007.

Through this collaboration, NEC Electronics,which currently holds the number one market sharein Japan for single-mode 3G platforms, aims to ex-tend its expertise to dual-mode 3G platforms for theglobal market. NEC has been involved in 3G researchand development for a long time, accumulating lead-ing 3G technologies and know-how, realizing world’sfirst commercial W-CDMA mobile handset, and con-tributing to 3G standardization activities. By leverag-ing the two companies’ extensive technological com-petence in 3G terminals, communication and electrondevices, NEC can quickly realize highly advancedmobile terminals that use 3G technologies such asHSDPA.

In addition, NEC is also strengthening its develop-ment effort in Linux platform for mobile terminals,

enabling effective and horizontal utilization of soft-ware development resources inside and outside com-pany, helping to decrease development time, and sup-porting new mobile applications and services. NEC’sLinux platform for mobile terminals will employ thejointly developed baseband LSI. With the effectivecombination with NEC Electronics’ MP211 applica-tion processor, advanced and high performance mo-bile terminals applications such as terrestrial digitalTV combination, various multimedia applicationsand voice recognition can be realized. Both companieswill also strive to realize smaller, more compact mo-bile terminals by decreasing the size of the LSI and bycreating an architecture to enable combination of thebaseband LSI and application processor into a singlechip.

NEC Electronics will also sell the jointly developedLSI to other mobile phone manufacturers as well, andaims to be a market leader in this area.

Major features of the LSI are as follows.

· Compliant with 3GPP release 5 (as of September2003).

· Supports HSDPA (external accelerator).· Supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE and W-CDMA modes.· Manufactured using leading edge 90nm process

technology.


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NEC Corporation announced that it has succeededin the development of a web page analysis engine thatrealizes ease of viewing of web pages on a variety ofterminals, such as televisions, PDAs, and mobilephones, despite differences in display resolution andscreen size.

The layout analysis engine enables extraction of alayout structure that meets with the viewer’s needsinstinctively. This is realized through the analysis ofcharacteristics, such as the color, size, and position ofthe title and the multiple domains that constitute theweb page, in addition to the formation of the HTMLtag that defines the web page.

Enabling users to easily grasp an overview of thefull contents of a web page and reducing the numberof operations necessary to access sought-after infor-

mation, this technology achieves ease of viewing evenon small screens such as on mobile phones. This isrealized by displaying digest pages, which consist ofonly titles, and detailed pages, which display the fullcontents related to each title separately. Through thistechnology, the environment for web viewing can beactively expanded from personal computers to includehome TVs and mobile phones etc. In addition, thenecessity for contents providers to create various webpages depending on the individual terminal will be-come a thing of the past, in turn contributing to asignificant reduction in creation costs.

The main characteristics of the layout analysisengine are as follows:

1) Title extraction: Through the development of a

Web Page Viewing on Variety of Terminals Made Easy through Web PageLayout Analysis Engine


News

method for analyzing titles using styles, in addition tothe types of HTML tags, the accurate extraction ofweb page title domains is enabled.

2) Layout analysis: Segmentation of web page displayelements (blocks) is realized through the analysis ofthe HTML tag’s structure and position. In addition,extraction of the layout structure is achieved throughthe grouping of titles and their multiple relatedblocks.

As internet use becomes more and more a part ofour daily lives, the need for web viewing on a varietyof terminals increases. In response to these needs, afew methods have been developed to convert HTMLtags into tags for mobile phones. Conventionally, ascontents of a webpage were simply divided up, grasp-ing an overview of information was difficult and ac-cessing sought-after information required many op-erations and involved moving from page to page. Thiscan be timely and frustrating. This new layout analy-

sis engine will enable quick and easy access to infor-mation. By combining this technology with NEC’sown original display technology “semantic zoom” theautomatic generation of web pages offering the sameease of display on small screens is enabled.

NEC will continue this research toward commer-cialization, and it also aims to improve accessibilitythrough R&D in voice read over software technologiesetc. These technologies will all contribute to the ac-tive use of mobile phones toward mobile offices, andsmart homes that actively use the internet.


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NEC Corporation announced that it has completedthe development of technology capable of playingback HD DVDs, DVDs, and CDs with a single opticalhead, enabling creation of the world’s first half heightsize drive suitable for desktop computer installation.

The main features of this prototype drive are asfollows:

(1) Realization of Three-Wavelength-Compatible Op-tical Head· This compatible head technology was developed by

using three lasers, the blue, red and infrared laserdiodes (“LD”), as the light source, thus enablingoptimal reading of each disc through the opticalhead using a single objective lens.

· Correction of the difference in substrate thicknessand wavelength, which causes spherical aberra-tion, was corrected by changing the magnificationof the objective lens. Control of the numerical aper-ture of the objective lens corresponding to each discformat is enabled by an aperture control elementthat features wavelength selectivity, which real-izes stable reading.

(2) Realization of 3-Generation-Compatible SystemLSI· Compatibility function and system operation was

achieved by overcoming the physical format differ-ence between CD, DVD and HD DVD through thedevelopment of system LSI.

(3) Half Height Size Capable of Installation in Desk-top PCs· Realization of the completed prototype by integra-

tion of all the functions compactly including the 3-generation compatible optical head.

· Reduction of the size to meet those of the averagecurrent DVD/CD compatible drives through thedevelopment of a compact circuit board utilizing 3-generation-compatible system LSI.

(4) Realization of Stable Operation on the CompatibleDrive· In order to achieve not only high density and large

capacity but also stable operation for HD DVDs, anadaptive PRML system was developed, and anETM modulation code was adopted. The ETM codeis suitable for the PRML system. By adoption ofthis adaptive PRML system and ETM code,

NEC Develops World’s First 3-Generation-Compatible HD DVD Drive

*Semantic Zoom function enables ease of viewing of webpages on lower resolution terminals such as TVs, PDAs andmobile phones as compared with PCs, by installing originalsoftware on terminals. Even on smaller screens web pagescan be viewed comfortably since the terminal can omitirrelevant information by determining heading and titlethrough layout structure information given as XML data.


amplitude margin deterioration is compensated forby stable high-density playback operation.

· Drive operation for DVDs and CDs is realizedthrough maximum exertion of current DVD/CDcompatible drive firmware technology and LSItechnology, which was developed for the presentDVD combo drive business.

The development of drive firmware technology,system LSI technology and HD DVD/DVD/CD-compatible optical head technology enables realiza-tion of a compact HD DVD drive and its ease ofincorporation into personal computers.

Recently, high-definition contents are increasingwith the spread of high definition, large screen dis-plays, and the start of digital terrestrial TV broad-casting etc. It is anticipated that the need for record-ing and playing back high-definition digital contentson optical discs in the home and on personal comput-ers will continue to grow.

NEC and Toshiba have proposed the “HD DVD”format, which has blue LDs as its light source, to theDVD Forum, based on the concept that compatibilitywith present DVD discs, which has spread rapidly, isof great importance for the spread of next-generationoptical discs capable of recording and playing backhigh-definition video. The DVD Forum has alreadyapproved the HD DVD-ROM and Rewritable disc for-mats. The HD DVD-recordable format was approvedin September, 2004, in version 0.9. NEC, along withMemory-Tech Corporation, SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.and Toshiba Corporation, are currently makingprogress with preparations to get the HD DVD Pro-

motion Group underway in order to aid the spread ofthese formats, and it is expanding its activities suchas collaborative promotion at exhibitions etc.

In general, HD DVD employs blue LDs withshorter than conventional wavelength as its lightsource to enable higher recording density. In order torealize compatibility with current discs, such as CDsand DVDs, a large number of parts are required re-sulting in a large-sized drive. To date this has beenone of the major challenges to overcome. NEC’s newdevelopment realizes a small, slim HD DVD drive,which can read and write 3-generations of opticaldiscs, HD DVDs, DVDs and CDs, with a single opticalhead. NEC will continue advancing and acceleratingits development toward commercialization of the HDDVD drive, in turn contributing to the spread of theHD DVD format.


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NEC Corporation announced that it has succeededin the development of a flame resistant polycarbonateresin, which cuts manufacturing energy consumptionby over 20% through the use of fly ash that is a by-product of thermal power plants. The fly ash boasts ahigh level of flame resistance necessary for housingplastics in electronic products such as in PCs, withoutthe addition of toxic materials such as halogen com-pounds that are conventionally found in housing plas-tics. Use of fly ash results in a reduction in materialcosts, promotion of the protection of the environmentthanks to safety measures regarding the eliminationof the use of halogen compounds, and a reduction in

manufacturing energy consumption.The fly ash used in this research is a by-product of

thermal power plants, and although it has been usedas a cheap source material for cement, etc, it has todate not been effectively used as a component in hous-ing materials. NEC has discovered the flame resis-tance properties of the fly ash for polycarbonate resinas a result of repeated research surrounding highreactivity on the fly ash surface. The flame resistanceis due to the strong adhesion of the fly ash to thepolycarbonate resin, which enhances thermal degra-dation resistance of the resin, and in addition, pro-motes its carbonization.

Photo 4 External view of HD DVD.

Development of Low-Energy-Produced Flame Resistant PolycarbonateUsing Fly Ash


News

This research, through the optimization of theadded volume and particle size of the fly ash, as wellas the original composition of additives including afluidity-enhancing agent, along with the ability tocontrol the decrease of the strength and fluidity of thepolycarbonate resin when the fly ash is added, pro-vides an environmentally friendly flame resistantpolycarbonate resin that can be used in desktop elec-tronic equipment.

Furthermore, in addition to the elimination of theuse of toxic materials and a reduction in manufactur-ing energy consumption, the flame resistant polycar-bonate resin realizes a reduction in basic material

costs, contributing to the expansion of the spread ofenvironmentally friendly materials.

NEC is strengthening its R&D in this field towardpractical use of the new material in housings of elec-tronic products in the Japan market within 2005.


*i-mode is a registered trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc.†Other names of companies and products introduced in

articles are trademarks or registered trademarks of eachcompany.

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