 |
March 2000
| Report from Research to Promote Open Networks | ||
| Introduction | ||
|
Information processing and its application technologies are progressing remarkably today, and an advanced information society is becoming a reality. Advanced applications of information technologies are emerging one after another, such as remote medical diagnosis, remote medical operations, a system to monitor elderly people and provide welfare services faster, remote education, space engineering for launching rockets, navigation devices connected to the ITS (Intelligent Transportation System), and remote billing systems for expressways. The Internet has made international, interconnected seamless networks a reality, while the web provides a user-friendly interface. In terms of data exchanged over such networks, XML (Extensible Markup Language) is emerging as a broad-use description language that describes not just sentence structures but multimedia contents as well, including those for streaming. With respect to processing, we have Java, a platform-independent, object-oriented language. And today we can describe, exchange, and process data in much simpler ways than before. These technologies are finding a greater diversity of users as well. For instance, more elementary, secondary and high schools are using the Internet and the web in educational activities; countless consumers are directly using B2C (Business to Consumer) e-commerce; iMode cellular phones are spreading rapidly; and game computers are now connected to the Internet. Indeed, we are living in the first phase of the advanced information society. Telecommunication and information technologies are the essential foundation of such a society. The GIS Committee (Global Information Society) has set up the following WGs (Working Groups) to conduct research and surveys on the core technologies required to allow the advanced information society to develop even further.
1) NGI (Next-generation Internet) Research WG Each WG has surveyed the latest situation in its own field, and whenever possible each WG has compiled suggestions on the future direction of the information society. These research results are published on INTAP's website (http://www.intap.or.jp) and/or printed reports. Apart from those WGs, the GIS Committee has also conducted a survey of PBNs (Policy-Based Networks) and their frameworks, with a view to knowing the latest trends in management of increasingly complex, growing network systems. In addition, we attended two international conferences: iBAND3 and XIWT (Cross Industry Working Team). The former was a series of lectures related to the Internet in general, and we mainly attended lectures related to policies, ASPs (Application Service Providers), and Internet measurements and compiled reports of the contents. The latter conference was held by an inter-industrial organization of the US and considered the future of information and telecommunication systems. This time, the conference was co-sponsored by EPF (Electronic Payment Foundation) to discuss how to secure sturdy e-commerce networks. Since the conference was co-sponsored by the two organizations, the focus of the conference was rather vague, though it did provide some good information on the latest situation, which we have compiled in a corresponding report. The GIS Committee has worked hard so far, and we hope to evolve into an organization that proposes suitable public policies and launches development projects. Your cooperation and support would be highly appreciated.
| ||
|
March 2000 Shozo Tanaka, Chairman of the GIS Committee
| ||
| Contents | ||
|
Introduction List of members of the GIS Committee
Chapter 1: Network Management According to Policies
Chapter 2: Reports from Surveys Overseas
| ||
| Report from Research of Security Technologies | ||
| Introduction | ||
|
As usage of the Internet spreads, the issue of security is growing. There have already been some serious problems involving leakage of personal information, and erasure, and falsification of data-base information, as well as some cases of unauthorized alterations of governmental agencies' and research institutions' websites. Except for some criminal incidents committed by insiders of the victim organizations, in all of such cases the websites had insufficient security protection. In Japan, there have been such criminal cases on the Internet since 1996. The public in general takes security and safety for granted, and the managers of the affected websites were no exception. Today, Internet security is a serious problem. Though the vendor can incorporate automatic security features into the systems it sells, at a large user site in general much of the security depends on the system's own security policies and very often each user makes his or her own security setting. Meanwhile, standardization organizations claim that standardization of security features is complete, so it merely remains to implement the defined standards in actual systems. A set of common criteria for evaluating security protection is currently being prepared, and soon respective vendors' products will receive a certification of security evaluation. Internet users should be involved in building secure systems using existing security technologies, rather than complaining about the current lack of security of the Internet. The Security Technology WG chose "digital signature" as the theme of its activities for fiscal 1999. We obtained the activity reports of EESSI (European Electronic Signature Standardization Initiative), which are the result of vast research conducted by the Council of Europe from various viewpoints including the significance, technologies involved, use, etc. of digital signatures. The purpose of the Council was to establish laws related to digital signatures, and we have analyzed and outlined the reports here. However, there is one major issue missing from the original reports: approval by the Certification Authority (CA). Europe had already standardized such approval procedures at the time of the EN45000 Series, and without sufficient knowledge of this standardization, the CA and its approvals cannot be properly understood. For this reason, the reports do not cover anything about the CA's approvals. Based on these reports, the EU issued a directive in December 1999 stating that digital signatures are valid and each member nation of the EU should establish necessary related laws; EU nations are expected to set up such laws in due course. At the same time, to prevent different incompatible digital signature methodologies from being used within the EU, EU/ICTSB has instructed both CEN/ISSS (Information Society Standardization System) and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) to collaborate in considering the related technological standards. These organizations are now working out the details of such standards. In Japan as well, some legislatures are considering legislation approving all the functions of a registered seal to digital signature and prohibiting any unauthorized alteration of those data and estimated terms created by the owner of the digital signature. The law is to be enacted in 2000.
| ||
|
March 2000 Shozo Tanaka, Chairman of the Security Technology WG
| ||
| Contents | ||
|
Introduction List of members of the Security Technology WG
Chapter 1: Standardization of digital signatures in Europe
Chapter 2: Security activities at IETF
Chapter 3: Trends of security technologies observed at the RSA Conference
| ||
| Report from Research on Residential Gateways (RGs) | ||
| Introduction | ||
|
At the dawn of the 21st century, the social structure is experiencing drastic changes. One remarkable and familiar example of such changes is the formation of an information society based on the Internet. Until 1998 or so, the Internet was considered to be a means for people around the world to communicate with each other via various communication or as a means of obtaining information. Yet since 1999, it has been growing as a place where industries of many different kinds collaborate to create new kinds of business. The progress of the Internet has been significantly affecting both the consumer and business markets, and today many businesses are changing the ways they produce, sell, and provide their products and services to suit the Internet age. Regarding the effects of such changes on society, the consumer market is having a greater impact than the business market. Also, the trends in the former market are harder to predict, since they directly involve consumers. For this reason, we need to obtain information to predict the trends in the market as early as possible, analyze it, and share the results with industries to enable them to rapidly cope with the consumer trends. The research summarized herein was conducted for this purpose. Japan's consumer electronics market, since it is closely related to people's lives, has so far retained its own "Japanese" characteristics, which have functioned as a kind of city wall that protects the market from outsiders. But now, digital media, telecommunications, computers, and other information technologies (ITs) are bringing fundamental changes to Japan's consumer electronics market and industry. Those changes affect not just how manufacturers produce, sell, and provide their products and services but the whole environment for using such products and services as well. Specifically, devices that have been so far used separately will soon be connected to each another to create a network within the house. This network will access the outside world via a residential gateway (RG) for content delivery and interactive services. These are new emerging trends, and the consumer electronics market can no longer be discussed without considering IT. Also, as shown by the history so far of international competition involving the Internet and IT, these are open and global in nature. Japanese businesses have been doing very well in the world's consumer electronics market so far, but now the market itself is going through drastic changes, so firms need to know much more about the actions of their counterparts in the West. INTAP has been monitoring such changes in the market and technology. Since last year, we have been surveying and reporting on the latest trends related to RGs and home networks both in Japan and abroad. Our experience over the last two years has taught us how fast the Internet and its industry and market are changing, and we have identified the standardization trends which seriously affect those businesses operating over the Internet. This report describes the results of the surveys we conducted this year, which were an extension of the surveys we carried out last year. The report includes our analysis of the factors affecting people's work and life styles, and our proposals for digital consumer businesses to enhance or maintain their competitiveness. We hope the report will be of some help to our supporting members as well as to other businesses in general.
| ||
|
March 2000 Kunio Sakai, Chairman of the RG Research WG
| ||
| Contents | ||
|
Introduction List of members of the RG Research WG Chapter 1: Objectives and Extent
Chapter 2: Trends in Network Technologies, the Foundation for Services
Chapter 3: Network Services for Consumers
Chapter 4: Standardization and Development Trends of RGs (Residential Gateways)
Chapter 5: Progress of Home Networks
Chapter 6: New Products in Network Terminals for Consumers
Chapter 7: Report from Domestic Surveys
Chapter 8: Report from Surveys Abroad Chapter 9: Proposals for Digital Consumer Businesses To Enhance or Maintain Their Competitiveness in the Market
Chapter 10: Special Survey Theme "Teleworking" Chapter 11: Conclusion
Chapter 12: References
| ||
|
Chapter 1: Objectives and Extent A residential gateway ("RG" hereafter) is a device installed between a house and the outside to enable the family to enjoy various services delivered via access networks. In other words, the RG serves as the interface between the home network and/or devices within the house and the outside access networks.
The history of RGs dates back to 1995. They originated in proposal documents published on the web and elsewhere by a discussion group consisting of seven US firms: HP, GTE, Bellcore, David Sarnoff, Reliance Comm/Tec, and B&C Consulting. This proposal was succeeded by TIA TR41.5, a committee of the TIA (Telecommunication Industries Association), a US telecommunication industry organization. The committee began discussing RG standardization in 1997, and it considers those RGs that connect multiple access networks to multiple home devices. Until 1998, RGs remained something of a new concept, but since 1999 the acronym RG has been showing up in catalogs of US manufacturers, who are leading the world in home networks. Though most references to RGs made by those manufacturers are less advanced than those considered by TIA, such catalogs are spreading the notion of RGs in the US market. This report was compiled in 1999. Still, the framework for our surveys was the same as used in 1998 and before, so we describe this framework once again below. Figure 1-1 shows the overall picture of network household electronic appliances with the focus on the RG. First, the RG is installed within the house. It receives many different services (contents, data, etc.) delivered from the outside via many different access networks. The RG sends the contents and data it receives to the specific devices in the house that need them via the home network. Household devices are divided into two categories, broadband (AV devices, PCs, etc.) and narrowband (utilities). The device serviced sends back a reply through the home network, the RG, and the access network. (The above outlines the basic structure. There is another basic structure, however, which begins the whole process with the home network sending out a request for a service to the outside.).
Chapter 2 describes the network infrastructure and the other foundation technologies necessary for providing services, as well as industry reorganizations and deregulations related to them. The subjects contained include telephone lines (xDSL), optic fiber (FTTH), CATV (Internet support and telephone services), wireless communication (mobile wireless, wireless LANs, FWA), LANs (Gigabit Ethernet, 10G Ethernet), merger of broadcasting and communication (examples from CATV, xDSL, and digital broadcasting), voice and image communications over the Internet, reorganization of the telecommunication industry, deregulation, and their effects. Chapter 3 analyzes the trends in the network services provided to consumers. Here, we describe how network services have been progressed hand-in-hand with the applications of the Internet, using specific examples. In short, the Internet used to be a means of communication (via e-mail, etc.) first, then developed into a means to obtain information, and today it is a way to obtain digital contents. The Internet is further transforming itself into a platform for many different kinds of e-commerce. In synchronization with this evolution of the Internet, network services have been transforming from the initial access services into comprehensive services including portals for content delivery, both B2C and B2B e-commerce services, and more. With reference to examples of collaborations among the major network service providers and transformation of business models, this chapter describes such changes. Chapter 4 summarizes the current situation of RG standardization and developments, and is particularly useful for the extent and depth of its coverage and structure of the information described. We invite anyone interested in RGs to read it through. The chapter first considers and compares the activities conducted by TIA TR41.5, ISO/IEC JTC1 SC25 WG1, and VESA Home Network WG, and OSGi, as well as the RG function models proposed by those organizations. Then, the chapter discusses the trends of the RG-related products, both in Japan and abroad. Chapter 5 summarizes the progress of home networks since last year (1998). Especially, concerning those networks using telephone lines and wireless communication, which have made remarkable progress, the chapter describes their technical standard trends (HomePNA, Bluetooth, IEEE1394, etc.), businesses involved in each segment of the home network market (PCs, AV devices, etc.), shipments of products, and more. At the end of the chapter, we forecast the spread of home networks both in the US and Japan, considering many factors involved, such as the extent to which information technologies (the Internet, PCs, cellular phones, etc.) have spread throughout general society, telecommunications infrastructure available, housing situation, differences in lifestyles, and so on. Chapter 6 summarizes the trends of network terminals for consumers in general and in each category of products. There are four categories of terminals here, data, telecommunication, AV, and utilities and control/monitoring. In each of these categories, we cover various subjects, including the emergence of terminals other than PCs, possibility of connecting terminals over wireless communication, expansion of cellular phones and other mobile communication devices and Internet access from them, spread of IEEE1394 and MPEG2, launch of digital audio services, and trials to connect "house chore" electric appliances like refrigerators, washing machines, etc. to the Internet. The chapter also contains our forecasts and anticipations of the changes that digital technologies can bring to the conventional electric appliance market. Chapter 7 is a report from our survey in Japan. The survey was conducted at a special session on information household electronics and home networks held at the 59th National Conference of the Information Processing Society of Japan. This chapter summarizes the lecturersf opinions and the question and answer exchanges with the audience in the following lectures, in order: "Information Household Electronics and Networks To Open Up a New Age of Services," the keynote address by Mr. Etsuhiko Shoyama, Hitachi. Ltd., "Spread of the Internet and the Launch of Digital Broadcasting Accelerate Household Use of Information," a lecture byMr. Mitsutoshi Hadori, the Academic Information Center, "Networking of Information Household Appliances," a lecture by Mr. Naohiko Kamae, the Image and Information Science Laboratory, and the panel discussion entitled "Where Information Household Electronics Is Going: Its Technologies and New Information Processing Beginning at Households," and others. Chapter 8 reports on the four surveys we conducted abroad. The first one focused on the trends in standard RG technologies and we attended a conference of TIA TR41.5 and then visited MIT (House_n Project, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC25) and Telcordia. We also interviewed two renowned consultants of RGs, Mr. M. Baker and Mr. H. Blair. The second one, which focused on trends in telecommunication technologies and use, took us to TELECOM f99, where we interviewed ETSI people. Then, we visited Lucent Technologies in the Netherlands). In the third one, to identify the latest trends with PCs, we attended COMDEX f99, where we interviewed employees of Broadcom (which later acquired Epigram) and ShareWave. Then, we visited Digital River Dataquest, and ReplayTV. The purpose of the fourth survey was mainly to learn the latest trends in the consumer network terminal and the related service markets. We joined CES 2000, where we interviewed employees of ShareWave and TiVo. Then, we visited Intel, Proxim, Lucent Technologies (New Jersey, USA), Cisco Systems, 2Wire, and Future@Work. Chapter 9 presents our proposals for industries to enhance and maintain competitiveness in the digital consumer market. Each of our members presented his or her views on the current situation at a monthly meeting held after two years of surveys. We discussed many subjects, such as how standards should be and evolve, how to manufacture products and provide services in the future, how the Japanese industry should have its own features, and our requests to the national government and public organizations. We are proud that each of our members took their responsibilities seriously in their own corporations. This sense of responsibility provided the backbone of our discussions from beginning to end. We believe this is in strong contrast to the mood prevalent in much of the Japanese mass media today, who are unnecessarily pessimistic or stoke the publicfs sense of crisis. Chapter 10 reports on the current situation of "teleworking," a special survey theme we chose. In Japan, we attended Telework f99. Abroad, the chapter reports on the General Meeting and a lecture ("Telework in Japan, Where It is and Where It is Going") at ITAC (International Telework Association and Council) and our visit to Empirica in Europe. We believe teleworking is essential in Japan, where the population is aging and the birth rate is falling. However, many people have a shallow misunderstanding that teleworking simply means working at home. The chapter explains what teleworking really is, based on our insight into the worldwide progress of teleworking. This report does not provide detailed descriptions of RGs and home networks. For such descriptions, refer to INTAPfs reports for fiscal 1998, INTAP-R-10-03 and INTAP-R-10-04.
| ||
| Report from Research on Next-generation Internet | ||
| Introduction | ||
|
Many nations and regions such as the US, Canada, and Europe are busy with research and development of the next-generation Internet. The NGI (Next-generation Internet) Research WG in fiscal 1998 surveyed several projects of the next-generation Internet, including the NGI Initiative and Internet2 of the US, Ca*net III of Canada, TEN155 of Europe, SuperJANET of UK, SURFnet of the Netherlands, B-Win of Germany, NORDUnet of Scandinavia, APAN of Asia, and the Gigabit Network for R&D of Japan. Our focus was set on development projects of fast backbone networks and advanced network applications, and the results of our surveys were announced in the "Report from Research on Open Network Promotion" issued in March 1999. In fiscal 1999, we conducted surveys focused on the trends in the US access networks including mobile communication technologies, which are a thriving area today. We also collected and examined some resources, mainly academic theses, on active networks, the foundation of which is currently being studied from a long-term perspective to develop the networks of the future. We also followed up these surveys using the web to see what happened after the research with respect to next-generation Internet projects. This report describes the results of the surveys in three sections. Section 1 discusses access networks. We conducted on-site surveys of research by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and Broadband Internet access methodologies. Also, we commissioned a research firm to survey the latest trends in the US Broadband Internet access market, and the results are reported in full in Appendix 1. Section 2 summarizes the results of our surveys on active networks. Since few people are aware of this kind of network at the moment, Chapter 2 contains a Japanese translation of a survey paper to introduce the network to readers. Though still in the laboratory research stage, active networks have been the subject of many theses, papers, and conferences already. Chapter 3 describes the progress of research of active networks and some typical applications. Their architectural framework is described in Chapter 4. Section 3 is a sequel to the surveys we conducted in fiscal 1998 on next-generation Internet projects. This year, our report carries some follow-up topics to some US and Canadian projects. It also contains a description on grid computing. Grid computing was a hot topic at SC f99 (Super Networking and Super Computing Conference f99) held in Portland in November 1999. A report from those of us who attended SC f99 is contained in Appendix 3. In Japan as well, a research and development project of Super-Internet will be initiated to celebrate the dawn of the new millennium. The next-generation Internet should provide the infrastructure to support the digital economy and e-society age. We hope it will find many users in society in general and make the world a better place to live, with better social welfare and economic competitiveness. This marks the end of the NGI Research WG and its activities.
| ||
|
March 2000 NGI Research WG
| ||
| Contents | ||
|
Introduction List of members of the NGI Research Committee
Trends of Next-generation Internet
Section 1: Access Networks
Section 2: Active Networks
Section 3: Research on Next-generation Networks and Applications
Appendices
Appendix 1 Report from a survey on accessing methods to the Broadband Internet
| ||
|
Trends of Next-generation Internet The Internet is still continuing its rapid growth, and an estimate in January 2000 estimated that some 72.4 million computers are connected to it. If the current pace of expansion continues, the 21st century should see the Internet embedded as part of the social infrastructure. No one will be able to live comfortably without the Internet. Still, to make it an essential part of the social infrastructure, we still need to solve some problems. In the following, we summarize the trends in technological developments toward next-generation networks from three viewpoints: speed, wireless communication, and intelligence/multimedia. The mainstream of those trends consists of digitization and the convergence it creates.
1. Faster networks
(2) Faster access networks
2. Wireless Internet and mobile Internet
3. Intelligent, multimedia networks
(2) Merger of networks and broadcasting, and home networks
(3) Telecommunication infrastructure in changes: toward carrying multimedia contents
| ||
|
Section 1: Access Networks Chapter 1 Outline
As the number of Internet users rapidly expands, the need for broadband access networks is growing. Today, in the US broadband access network market, DSL and cables are competing with each other and enlarging the market, and this competition is expected to intensify. At the same time, in the wireless communication market, stationary wireless and satellite communication can expand their markets in the near future. Cellular phones are taking off worldwide, and Bluetooth, an interfacing technology to connect closely located cellular phones, PCs, peripheral devices, etc., is becoming the industry standard and will lead to many new products compliant with it. More than 1,400 firms in the industry have joined such efforts. Another international standard gaining supporters is WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), an access protocol for connecting cellular phones to the Internet. With this background, Section 1 focuses on the trends in the research, development, and market of US access networks, including mobile technologies, which is a hot topic today.
| ||
|
Section 2: Active Networks Chapter 1 Outline
An active network has routers (nodes) that can change the protocol processing according to the content of a packet. There are two types of such networks: one downloads the program for the routers to process in advance. The other carries data packets with a program attached to it. Both types are "active" in the following two senses.
| ||
|
Section 3: Research on Next-generation Networks and Applications Chapter 1 Outline
Research on next-generation networks includes fast backbone networks, access networks, network engineering, advanced applications using next-generation networks, and others. Research on these subjects is in progress at many governmental agencies, universities, and research institutes in North America and Europe. Especially, at some advanced institutes of North America, some R&D communities are producing interesting results, taking advantage of high-performance computer devices and next-generation backbone networks. The applications of such research efforts include remote education, content delivery, and many others covering a broad range of education, science, medicine, meteorology, chemistry, biochemistry, genetic engineering, space and aircraft engineering, military technology, industries, etc. Also, investments are made on research for creating new businesses using wireless communication technologies.
| ||
