Aiming to contribute to society in the fields of "communications," "mobility," "environment," and "wellness" while focusing on the field - Tomoshi Uozumi (Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.)
-5GMF Millimeter Wave Dissemination Promotion Workshop / Japan's Industrial Technology Frontline Report

The 5th Generation Mobile Promotion Forum (5GMF) held the first of its "Japan's Industrial Technology Frontiers" workshops to promote the spread of millimeter wave in December 2023. The aim of the workshop was to provide an opportunity to interact with people outside of the broad telecommunications industry. The first session featured Murata Manufacturing, which demonstrates the value of its unique electronics technology in all fields, including consumer, medical, factory automation, and infrastructure. Mr. Satoshi Uozumi, General Manager of Millimeter Wave Business Promotion Department, and Mr. Hideki Ueda, Principal Researcher, spoke at the first session. In the first part of this report, Mr. Uozumi reports on the content of "Murata Manufacturing's Aim for Innovation that Contributes to the Development of Culture".

Aiming to contribute to society in the areas of "communication," "mobility," "environment," and "wellness

Murata manufactures devices used in electronic equipment such as multilayer ceramic capacitors, inductors, and SAW filters. The company also supplies ICs and other complex component modules, sensors, and lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Against this backdrop, the company believes that "in order to proactively create value in the midst of intensifying environmental changes, it is important not only to provide value to customers, but also to expand the scope of value creation to innovation in response to social issues," said Uozumi.

How will Murata expand its scope of value creation toward 2030? Murata envisions four business opportunities in "communications," "mobility," "environment," and "wellness" when AI connects physical and cyber space," says Uozumi.

In "Telecommunications," the company will provide products and solutions in the advancement of 5G, while at the same time looking to respond to the changes from 5G to 6G. In the frequency band targeted by 6G, the reach will be shorter than that of 5G, so the area of communication will become smaller, and major structural and technological changes will occur. Murata will therefore continue to provide value through technological innovation," said Uozumi. In "Mobility," we are targeting not only automobiles but also all moving objects. In "Environment," the keywords will be environmental conservation and sustainable society, and in "Wellness," the company will take on new challenges in areas such as human safety and security and health, he explained. The company intends to view its contribution to social issues as a business opportunity and to engage in technological innovation.

Among them, what changes are taking place in the telecommunications field? Mr. Uozumi explains, "In the past, obtaining information and acquiring services required a great deal of effort. Nowadays, however, consumer devices, industrial equipment, and even social infrastructures are connected to the Internet and can be instantly connected. Connectivity is expanding the world, and this is a great opportunity for industry. This is a great opportunity for industry," he says, "because it opens up opportunities for global product offerings, and in the industrial sector, productivity and efficiency can be improved through the IoT and other means.

He added, "Until now, the scope of communication has been mainly between people, with smartphones at the center. This will expand to include objects, and the coverage area will also extend to the sky and outer space. On top of this, the evolution of digital technology will connect cyberspace and physical space, which will further enrich our lives. The evolution of technology will lead to solutions to social issues," explains Uozumi.

Communications" and "sensors" that convert and connect all things into data

Next, Mr. Uozumi spoke about the value creation of millimeter wave communications. In general, millimeter wave is considered a challenge because of its high frequency, which makes communication distance difficult to reach, and its low transparency from outdoors to indoors. Of course that is important, but Murata believes that the transmission of large amounts of data and high-speed responsiveness are at the core of the challenges of technological innovation," said Uozumi.

As 6G, which uses millimeter waves and even higher frequencies, becomes more widespread, there will be a need to improve the functionality of devices and hardware. This is a field in which Murata excels. Murata added, "The 6G world will require the provision of software and solutions. In this context, what is required in terms of value is the ability to convert all kinds of objects into data and connect them," said Uozumi.

When such an era arrives, sensors will attract more attention as key devices for digitization. A virtuous circle will be created in which all measurable data will be digitized by sensors, analyzed by AI, analyzed, and optimized, thereby expanding the data acquired by sensors. In order to create a virtuous circle in which everything can be digitized and connected, there must be technological innovation and advancement of each function of communication and sensors. As one way to promote technological innovation, Murata has been acquiring technologies, including through mergers and acquisitions, in the past," said Uozumi. He added, "We have also been participating in communication and other standards organizations to detect trends from an early stage and feed them back to R&D. This has contributed to the acquisition and accumulation of necessary technologies.

At the same time, we must not forget to provide value through manufacturing. He said that Murata Manufacturing has a lot of know-how in its production sites and is promoting DX (digital transformation) of manufacturing. Mr. Uozumi introduced the initiatives of Komoro Murata Manufacturing. We are promoting DX that is site-centered and making use of our own products. We are also promoting production management and visualization of facilities. We are also working on energy management and the visualization of energy-saving data. This approach is a cycle of converting social value into economic value. One key to this approach is the communication network for handling big data. We envision the utilization of 5G millimeter wave frequencies and the maximum use of 6G in the future. This technology is designed to advance innovative convenience and efficiency at production sites in a way that is energy efficient and environmentally friendly," he explains.

Handover performance is 5G's advantage in production

During the question-and-answer session, there was a more in-depth discussion. In response to the question, "Are there any devices that you think are interesting even if they are not related to telecommunications? In the field related to people's five senses, we acquired a company called Miraicense, which has an interesting technology called 3D haptic technology. For example, when you touch a device, the device itself is only vibrating slightly, but the brain perceives the vibration as an illusion, and the stimulation is transmitted to the brain and muscles, giving the sensation of being pulled or pushed to the five senses. By incorporating this kind of technology into Murata Manufacturing, I believe it will be possible to realize virtual spaces.

In response to the question, "In wireless communications, there is Wi-Fi™ in addition to 5G, but what is the need to use 5G instead of Wi-Fi™?" he replied, "I think the major difference between Wi-Fi™ and 5G is handover performance. I think one of the advantages of 5G is its handover performance, which can be used effectively. Mr. Uozumi answered.

When asked if millimeter waves could become indispensable in the connection between sensors and communications, he responded, "I believe that technological development will progress so that communications and sensing can be performed in the same frequency band. I believe that the combination of various sensing devices and wireless communications will lead to the solution of social issues by enabling their utilization," Uozumi concluded his lecture.

(5GMF Millimeter Wave Dissemination Promotion Ad Hoc and TeleGraphic Editors)