Feature Articles: NTT DOCOMO’s Initiatives on 5G

evolution & 6G

Research of Transparent RIS

Technology toward 5G evolution &
6G
Daisuke Kitayama, Yuto Hama, Kensuke Miyachi,
and Yoshihisa Kishiyama
Abstract
The introduction of the 5th-generation mobile communications system (5G) commercial services has
begun throughout the world, and at present, research toward the further development of 5G (5G evolu-
tion) and the development of 6G as the next-generation mobile communications system is being active-
ly pursued. In this article, we describe the intelligent radio environment (IRE), an important concept in
“New Radio Network Topology” now under discussion on the road to 5G evolution & 6G. We also
describe NTT DOCOMO’s initiatives toward the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), an important
component of IRE, and metamaterial/metasurface technologies as elemental technologies of RIS.

Keywords: 5G evolution, millimeter wave, metasurface

1. Introduction communications of a cellular system is determining

how to expand the area covered by a base-station
In Japan, NTT DOCOMO launched commercial antenna to non-line-of-sight locations.
services of the 5th-generation mobile communica- In this article, we first present the concept of the
tions system (5G) in March 2020. This launch has intelligent radio environment (IRE) that is now
raised expectations for the application of 5G technol- attracting attention as a useful approach to forming
ogy to XR*1 such as virtual reality (VR), augmented coverage areas in the millimeter-wave band, an
reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) and to a variety important issue in achieving 5G evolution & 6G. We
of fields as in industry/infrastructure enhancement then turn to NTT DOCOMO initiatives surrounding
through Internet of Things (IoT) devices [1]. Against the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) as key to
this background, NTT DOCOMO has come to dem- achieving IRE and describe metamaterial*3/metasur-
onstrate through field experiments the potential of 5G face*4 technologies, the elemental technologies of RIS.
for achieving high-speed/high-capacity, low-latency,
and high-reliability communications using radio sig- *1 XR: Generic name for technology that provides new experiences
nals in the millimeter-wave*2 frequency band [2, 3]. by merging virtual space and real space as in VR, AR, and MR.
However, it became clear through these field exper- *2 Millimeter waves: Radio signals in the frequency band from 30
GHz to 300 GHz as well as the 28 GHz band targeted by 5G all
iments that problems existed in the effective use of of which are customarily called millimeter waves.
millimeter waves in radio communications of a cel- *3 Metamaterial: An artificial material that causes electromagnetic
lular system. With millimeter waves, radio signals waves to behave in ways that they do not in natural materials.
have a strong tendency to propagate in a straight line *4 Metasurface: Artificial surface technology. As a type of artificial
medium (metamaterial (see *3)), it can achieve an arbitrary di-
much like light, so their ability to wrap around shield- electric constant and magnetic permeability through a two-di-
ing objects (diffraction) is small. It can therefore be mensional periodic arrangement of structures each smaller than
said that the key to using millimeter waves in radio the wavelength of the propagating wave.

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 Feature Articles

Tx

Propagation channel (H)

Rx

: RIS

Tx Propagation channel (H) Rx

Estimation Control
Control
Optimization Achieved by RIS

Fig. 1. Conceptual diagram of IRE.

2. IRE and RIS secure propagation routes that make detours around
shielding objects by optimally controlling not only
2.1 IRE the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) but the propa-
Research toward IRE has been quite active in recent gation channel*5 (H) as well.
years with the aim of adaptively and dynamically
controlling the radio environment to achieve non- 2.2 RIS
line-of-sight coverage in the millimeter-wave band RIS is essential technology for achieving IRE
[4]. In a white paper [1] issued by NTT DOCOMO described above. A RIS consists of multiple elements
toward 6G, a New Radio Network Topology was pro- that scatter electromagnetic waves. Metamaterial/
posed to increase the number of connection paths to metasurface technologies that can design and control
the network including discussions on controlling the the distribution of these scattering characteristics are
radio environment. In this regard, it is difficult to commonly used to achieve RIS. A metasurface has a
solve the problem of radio waves being blocked by thin flat shape, and depending on the base materials
shielding objects simply through the evolution of selected, it is even possible to manufacture one in the
transmitter/receiver technology, so the need is felt for shape of a flexible sheet that can be installed along
constructing a new radio network system. the side of a structure. This makes it possible to con-
Against this background, means of achieving a dra- trol the scattering characteristics of radio waves while
matic jump in radio network performance are being maintaining the shape of existing structures. Within
vigorously studied by breaking with the traditional the Tx – propagation channel – Rx sequence, this
assumption that the radio environment is uncontrol- means controlling the propagation channel. In gen-
lable and treating it instead as a controllable entity. eral, RIS can be expected to adaptively control the
This type of approach has come to be called the intel- radio environment by periodically repeating the
ligent radio environment (IRE) or smart radio envi-
ronment (SRE) to emphasize its conceptual differ- *5 Propagation channel: An individual communication path in radio
communications. Here, a communication path between a trans-
ence with the conventional radio network system. A mitting antenna and receiving antenna. The characteristics of a
conceptual diagram of IRE is shown in Fig. 1. Given communication path are expressed in terms of its transfer func-
an environment with shielding objects, IRE can tion H.

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Feature Articles

following operations. a straight line, in which case its effective area

• Estimate the radio channel characteristics decreases by the amount of that angle.
required for determining RIS operation. Focusing our attention on controlling only the
• Control the scattering intensity and phase distri- propagation direction with no special phase control
bution on the RIS based on the above estimated (blue line in Fig. 2) and considering the case that RIS
information to obtain the desired propagation is smaller than a certain size ((1) in the figure), double
channel. path loss via RIS is considerably greater than path
Various approaches to implementing this procedure loss of a direct wave for the same path length. How-
have been researched. Furthermore, as a term refer- ever, as RIS size becomes larger than that of (1), it can
ring to the same technology as RIS, there is the large be seen that double path loss asymptotically approach-
intelligent surface (LIS), and there is also the intelli- es path loss of a direct wave for the same path length.
gent reflecting surface (IRS) that focuses only on Furthermore, though described in more detail later,
controlling reflected waves. double path loss when subjecting RIS to optimized
control to maximize received power at MS takes on
2.2.1 Effect of RIS size the values shown by the red line in the figure. Now,
Given a non-line-of-sight situation between a base by analytically determining the RIS size for which
station (BS) and mobile station (MS) in which a this optimally controlled double path loss is equal to
reflector or repeater*6 is used to relay radio signals direct-wave path loss at (1) in the figure, the length of
(BS – reflector/repeater – MS), path loss*7 occurs two one side of this RIS turns out to be the Fresnel radi-
times, once in the BS – reflector/repeater interval and us*8. It can also be seen from the figure that, even
again in the reflector/repeater – MS interval. The without optimized control of RIS, the RIS size at
drop in energy density of a wave due to propagation which path loss is equal to that of the direct wave
is larger at positions closer to the wave source. Thus, nearly agrees with the Fresnel radius, and if the RIS
even for the same total path length, path loss is gener- becomes larger than that size, an amount of power
ally greater for the BS – reflector/repeater – MS path equivalent to that of the direct wave for the same path
than the BS – MS path leading to a drop in received length can be received (blue line in the figure).
power. This tendency of path loss to increase applies In addition, the reason for the alternating increase/
to RIS as well. decrease in double path loss as it asymptotically
Path loss via RIS is affected by surface size the approaches path loss of the direct wave with increase
same as an ordinary metal reflector, but in the case of in RIS size is the canceling out of signals via the odd-
RIS, path loss depends not only on size but also on the numbered and even-numbered Fresnel zones*9 at the
method of phase control. With this in mind, we first receiving point.
examine how RIS size affects received power and
introduce the results of analyzing the relationship 2.2.2 Effect of phase control by RIS
between path loss that occurs twice via RIS (herein- On breaking down the BS – RIS – MS propagation
after referred to as “double path loss”) and path loss path by each element making up the RIS, we consider
of a direct wave for the same path length [5]. In this that the received power of the BS – RIS – MS path
analysis, calculations were performed for the follow- can be maximized by performing RIS phase control
ing two cases. so that the waves on each path have the same phase at
• Receiving a direct wave with a BS – MS of
200 m *6 Repeater: Relay equipment on the physical layer that amplifies
the power of a signal from a BS or MS and forwards the signal to
• Receiving radio waves with a BS – RIS distance a MS or BS.
of 100 m and a RIS – MS distance of 100 m and *7 Path loss: Propagation path loss estimated from the difference
no paths other than the path via RIS (total path between the transmitted power and received power.
length = 200 m) *8 Fresnel radius: Radius of the first Fresnel zone (see *9).
*9 Fresnel zone: Given the shortest distance between the transmit-
The relationship between RIS size and path loss for ting/receiving points (here, the shortest distance via RIS), the
each of the above paths in the 28 GHz band as deter- range in which the difference in path lengths is less than half a
mined by computer simulation is shown in Fig. 2. In wavelength, that is, in which the difference in signal phase is less
this computation, the RIS is square-shaped, reflectiv- than π (rad), is called the first Fresnel zone. Furthermore, the
range in which the difference in path lengths is greater than n – 1
ity is 100%, and BS – RIS – MS is assumed to lie but less than n half-wavelengths is called the nth Fresnel zone.
along a straight line. In actuality, RIS can be expected Signals within the same Fresnel zone strengthen each other and
to lie at an angle with respect to BS/MS and not along synthesize.

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 Feature Articles

Cross section of Fresnel zone at RIS position

One side marks Fresnel radius

(1)
1st Fresnel zone
(2)
2nd Fresnel zone (3)

3rd Fresnel zone

(1) (2) (3)

190
Fresnel shift
Fresnel radius

180 Optimized control

170 Control of only
propagation direction
160
150
Path loss via RIS
140
Path loss (dB)

130
Direct-wave path loss for distance of 200 m
120
110
100
90
80
70
0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
Length of one side of RIS (square-shaped) (m)

Fig. 2. Relationship between RIS size and path loss.

the receiving point (red line in Fig. 2). If optimized improve received power by adding phase compensa-
control is performed in this way, the received power tion consisting of only two values—0 and π (rad)—to
ends up having a positive correlation with RIS size direction-only control. As shown in Fig. 2 for the case
instead of converging to the value of the direct wave of direction-only control, path loss increases and
path. Furthermore, if RIS size should be less than the decreases repeatedly as RIS size becomes larger.
Fresnel radius, practically no difference can be Here, received power can be significantly improved
observed between conventional control of only the by shifting the wave phase by π (rad) via the even-
propagation direction (blue line in the figure) and numbered Fresnel zones, the cause of this increase-
optimized phase control, so direction-only control is decrease behavior (green line in the figure). This
sufficient in this interval. technique (hereinafter referred to as “Fresnel shift”)
When performing optimized control of a RIS from can improve received power depending on RIS size
the viewpoint of received power, the amount of phase the same as optimized control even for users posi-
change in each element of the RIS must be set to an tioned at any distance. Details of this technique are
optimal value as described above. This, however, may provided in another paper [5].
complicate the control process. To simplify this pro-
cess, we introduce a technique that can significantly

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Conventional reflector Metasurface reflector RIS with dynamic metasurface

Control
signals
Controls beam shape,
Driver direction, etc.

R wa
e

av

av
av

ef ve
tw

tw
tw

le
e

en

en
av

ef
en

ct
id

id
w

le
id

ed
c

c
c

In
ed

In
ct
In

ct

ed
le
ef

w
R

av
e
Fig. 3. Conceptual diagram of RIS using metasurface technology.

3. Study of metasurface technology toward 3.1 Transparent dynamic metasurface

transparent RIS In 2018, researchers at NTT DOCOMO began
studying static metasurface reflectors that do not pro-
As described above, metamaterial/metasurface vide dynamic control with an eye to expanding milli-
technologies are commonly used to achieve RIS. A meter-wave coverage to non-line-of-sight locations
metamaterial features a periodic arrangement of [8]. However, for the metasurface reflector studied
structures each sufficiently smaller than the wave- here, it was necessary to design a reflection phase
length of an electromagnetic wave. This artificial distribution according to incident/reflected angles
periodic structure can, in effect, behave as a material calculated from the installation location, base station
having a negative refractive index, so it can be used to position, and location targeted for reception. Another
obtain characteristics that cannot be achieved by ordi- problem was that the area behind the reflector became
nary material. As a consequence, metamaterial tech- a new non-line-of-sight location. It was also desirable
nology has been vigorously researched since 2000 that the reflector has a design or look that blends in
[6]. Demonstrations of metamaterial technology were with the city landscape.
initially conducted in the microwave band (5 GHz), In response to the above issues, we have been
but studies in the millimeter-wave and terahertz- developing and studying a “transparent dynamic
wave*10 bands have been active since 2010 [7]. This metasurface” in cooperation with AGC Inc. as a RIS
is thought to be due to various factors. For example, prototype that can dynamically control the reflection
the elemental structures making up metamaterial are and penetration of radio waves while maintaining
of a size on the order of mm – µm that can be easily high transparency (Fig. 4) [9]. The metasurface sub-
fabricated by existing manufacturing processes. In strate is covered with a transparent glass substrate to
addition, these are frequency bands for which the make it transparent, and moving the glass substrate
electrical resistance of metals can be nearly ignored, slightly enables dynamic control of radio waves in
the same as for frequency bands used in conventional three modes: full penetration of incident waves, par-
mobile communications. tial penetration and partial reflection of radio waves,
Moreover, while a metamaterial is a three-dimen- and reflection of all radio waves.
sional artificial periodic structure, a two-dimensional The mainstream method for achieving dynamic
artificial periodic structure is often called a metasur- metamaterials and metasurfaces in the past was to use
face. Controlling the reflection phase distribution on semiconductors to control the resistance and electri-
the metasurface enables the propagation of reflected cal-capacitance components of metallic patterns. Our
waves to be controlled (Fig. 3). new method for achieving transparent dynamic meta-
At present, metamaterial/metasurface technologies surfaces is superior to the conventional technique
are described as important technologies in 6G-orient- using semiconductor devices by virtue of “enabling
ed white papers issued by a variety of research insti-
tutions. The following describes NTT DOCOMO *10 Terahertz wave: Electromagnetic waves with a frequency of
initiatives surrounding metasurface technology around 1 THz. Often used to refer to frequencies ranging from
toward the practical implementation of RIS. 100 GHz to 10 THz.

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Prototype of transparent dynamic metasurface

Make
transparent

Approx. 2 mm

Operating principle

Inter-substrate distance

Movable substrate Trials results

Metasurface substrate
Frequency 26.8 GHz 26.9 GHz 27.0 GHz 27.1 GHz 27.2 GHz 27.3 GHz

Penetration −0.3 dB −1.4 dB −0.8 dB −1.2 dB −1.2 dB −0.3 dB

Transmit- mode
Inter-substrate distance tance
Reflection mode >200 µm Reflection −15 dB −14 dB −10 dB −11 dB −11 dB −10 dB
Penetration mode 0 µm mode

Fig. 4. Transparent dynamic metasurface initiative.

dynamic control while maintaining transparency” in addition, attenuated and weak radio waves pene-
and “making it easy to enlarge the substrate.” Use of trate an indoor space without spreading out. It is
a transparent dynamic metasurface also minimizes therefore difficult to make such an indoor space into
impact on the surrounding environment and on a coverage area using outdoor base station antennas.
existing designs on installation. In response to these issues, we developed in coop-
A trial performed to assess the performance of the eration with AGC Inc. a “transparent metasurface
prototype RIS showed that it could achieve transmit- lens” that can guide millimeter waves passing
tance of approximately –1.4 dB or greater in penetra- through a glass window to a specific indoor location
tion mode and approximately –10 dB or less in reflec- (referred to below as a “focal point”). This is a film-
tion mode (calculated as reflectivity of –1 dB or like lens that can be affixed to a glass window from
greater) in 400 MHz or higher bands (Fig. 4). the indoor side [10, 11]. Focusing weak radio waves
Going forward, we plan to study further functional that pass through the entire surface of a glass window
enhancements such as functions for controlling pen- at a focal point in this way can increase power, so
etration/reflection directions with the aim of achiev- installing an area improvement tool such as a repeat-
ing a practical transparent RIS. er, reflector*12, or RIS at the focal point position
should make it possible to extend area coverage from
3.2 M aking windows into radio-wave lenses by outdoor base station antennas to the inside of a build-
transparent metasurface lens ing (Figs. 5 and 6). In a trial using this metasurface
Compared with radio waves in the frequency bands lens, we found that the received power at the focal
currently used in LTE (Long Term Evolution) and the point could be improved by 24 dB or more compared
Sub-6*11 band, radio waves in the millimeter-wave with the case of an ordinary transparent glass.
band have high straight-line propagation properties
*11 Sub-6: A specific range of frequencies. Radio signals having fre-
and attenuate easily. For this reason, radio waves quencies from 3.6 GHz to 6 GHz.
emitted from outdoor base station antennas attenuate *12 Reflector: In this article, reflectors include conventional metal re-
before arriving at the glass window of a building, and flectors and metasurface reflectors.

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Feature Articles

Features of dynamic metasurface lens

Conventional dynamic metasurface
Concept of metasurface lens Metasurface with Matrix control of
Metasurface lens Metasurface lens + repeaters for uniform structure each device
Ordinary window + repeater focal-point control

Indoors
×
Repeater New metasurface lens
Dynamic switching
Metasurface with distribution of Uniform control*
of focal points four types of structures
Outdoors

×
Metasurface lens prototype
Static metasurface lens Dynamic metasurface lens
*In this prototype, distance with adjoining glass
50cm substrate is controlled.
80 cm Trial results
Static metasurface lens
(1) Float glass (2) (1) + metasurface lens
50cm
80 cm

Received power at
0 dB >24 dB
focal point
*Values when using as reference the received power at focal point with only float glass

Dynamic metasurface lens

Focal-point 1 Focal-point 2
*Shows photos before transparency processing so that metasurface patterns are visible Received Single focal point mode 11 dB 0 dB
power at
focal point Double focal point mode 6 dB 6 dB
*Values when using as reference the received power at focal-point 2 in single focal point mode

Fig. 5. Concept of making windows into radio-wave lenses by transparent metasurface lens.

Metasurface lens
Repeater, etc.

Out
doo
r ba
se s
tatio
n

Fig. 6. Example of using a transparent metasurface lens.

We also tested a function for dynamically control- structures so that focal point positions can be
ling focal points. In this regard, the conventional switched (presently between a single focal point and
approach to controlling the penetration/reflection two focal points) even when applying the same con-
direction of radio waves was to configure a metasur- trol signal to all devices (Fig. 5). In single focal point
face with a uniform arrangement of identical devices mode, the received power at focal-point 1 was shown
and to apply different control signals to each device. to be 11 dB higher than that at focal-point 2 indicat-
In contrast, our new dynamic metasurface lens appro- ing that only focal-point 1 was functioning as a focal
priately arranges devices with four different types of point. Meanwhile, in double focal point mode,

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 Feature Articles

received power at both focal-point 1 and focal-point [Link]

technology/whitepaper_6g/DOCOMO_6G_White_PaperEN_v3.[Link]
2 was shown to be 6 dB higher than that at focal-point [2] D. Kitayama, K. Tateishi, D. Kurita, A. Harada, M. Inomata, T. Imai,
2 in single focal point mode indicating the formation Y. Kishiyama, H. Murai, S. Itoh, A. Simonsson, and P. Okvist, “High
of two focal points. Simplifying the control process in Speed Mobility Experiments on Distributed MIMO Beamforming for
5G Radio Access in 28-GHz Band,” IEICE Trans. Commun., Vol.
this way raises the possibility of dynamically control- E102-B, No. 8, Aug. 2019.
ling focal points even with a large-area metasurface [3] D. Kurita, K. Tateishi, D. Kitayama, A. Harada, Y. Kishiyama, H.
lens. Murai, S. Itoh, A. Simonsson, and P. Okvist, “Indoor and Field
Experiments on 5G Radio Access for 28-GHz Band Using Distributed
MIMO and Beamforming,” IEICE Trans. Commun., Vol. E102-B, No.
4. Conclusion 8, Aug. 2019.
[4] M. D. Renzo, A. Zappone, M. Debbah, M. S. Alouini, C. Yuen, J. de
Rosny, and S. Tretyakov, “Smart Radio Environments Empowered by
In this article, we presented the concept of IRE that Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces: How It Works, State of Research,
attempts to adaptively control the radio environment, and The Road Ahead,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Commun,
which is deemed to be a useful approach to achieving Vol. 38, No. 11, pp. 2450–2525, Nov. 2020.
[5] Y. Hama and D. Kitayama, “Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Aided
non-line-of-sight coverage in the millimeter-wave Coverage Enhancement towards 5G evolution and 6G,” IEICE Tech.
band, an important issue in achieving 5G evolution & Rep., Vol. 120, No. 406, SRW2020-81, pp. 98–103, Mar. 2021 (in
6G. We also described RIS as an elemental technol- Japanese).
[6] D. R. Smith, W. J. Padilla, D. C. Vier, S. C. Nemat-Nasser, and S.
ogy of IRE and metamaterial/metasurface technolo- Schultz, “Composite Medium with Simultaneously Negative Perme-
gies that form the foundation of RIS. When influenc- ability and Permittivity,” Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol. 84, No. 18, pp. 4184–
ing the propagation environment by a reflector or RIS 4187, May 2000.
[7] D. Kitayama, M. Yaita, and H.-J. Song, “Laminated Metamaterial Flat
of limited area, controllability increases the larger is Lens at Millimeter-wave Frequencies,” Opt. Express, Vol. 23, pp.
that area with respect to that wavelength, i.e., the 23348–23356, Sept. 2015.
higher is the frequency of the propagating wave. The [8] D. Kitayama, D. Kurita, K. Miyachi, Y. Kishiyama, S. Itoh, and T.
Tachizawa, “5G Radio Access Experiments on Coverage Expansion
technology described here is expected to become a Using Metasurface Reflector at 28 GHz,” 2019 IEEE Asia-Pacific
base technology for constructing coverage areas not Conference on Microwave (APMC), pp. 435–437, Singapore, Dec.
only for 5G but also for 6G and beyond radio systems 2019.
[9] NTT DOCOMO Press Release, “DOCOMO Conducts World’s First
whose frequencies are expected to be even higher. Successful Trial of Transparent Dynamic Metasurface—Dynamic
Going forward, we plan to assess the effectiveness wave manipulation and high transparency expected to optimize 5G
of the RIS technology described in this article in network construction—,” Jan. 2020.
[10] NTT DOCOMO Press Release, “DOCOMO and AGC Use Metasur-
actual environments and to study the application of face Lens to Enhance Radio Signal Reception Indoors—New technol-
even higher frequencies with RIS toward 6G. ogy efficiently guides millimeter waves to target locations indoors—,”
Jan. 2021.
[11] D. Kitayama, Y. Hama, K. Goto, K. Miyachi, T. Motegi, and O.
This article is the reproduction of the special article Kagaya, “Transparent Dynamic Metasurface for Visually Unaffected
published in NTT DOCOMO Technical Journal (Vol. Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface: Controlling Transmission/Reflec-
23, No. 2, Oct. 2021). tion and Making a Window into an RF Lens,” Opt. Express, Vol. 29,
No. 18, pp. 29292–29307, Aug. 2021.

References
Trademark notes
All company names or names of products, software, and services appearing
[1] NTT DOCOMO, “White Paper: 5G evolution & 6G,” Version 3.0,
in this article are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
Feb. 2021.
owners.

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Feature Articles

Daisuke Kitayama Kensuke Miyachi

Senior Researcher, NTT Device Technology Manager, the 6G-IOWN Promotion Depart-
Laboratories, NTT Corporation. ment, NTT DOCOMO, INC.
He received a B.S. in electrical and electronic He received a B.S. and M.S. in electrical and
engineering and an M.S. in electronics and electronic engineering from Tokyo Institute of
applied physics from Tokyo Institute of Technol- Technology in 1999 and 2002. Since joining
ogy in 2010 and 2012. He joined NTT Device NTT DOCOMO, he has been engaged in the
Technology Laboratories in 2012. He has been research of radio propagation and the system
engaged in research on metamaterials for con- design of radio access networks.
trolling terahertz waves. From 2017 to April
2021, he was a researcher at 6G Laboratories,
NTT DOCOMO, where he was involved in
research on 5G and 6G. Since May 2021, he has
been with NTT Device Technology Laboratories
and engaged in research on terahertz metasur-
faces for RIS.

Yoshihisa Kishiyama
Yuto Hama Manager, 6G-IOWN Promotion Department,
Ph.D. student, Yokohama National University NTT DOCOMO, INC.
(JSPS Research Fellow). He received a B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. from Hok-
He received a B.E. and M.E. in information and kaido University in 1998, 2000, and 2010. Since
communication engineering from Yokohama joining NTT DOCOMO in 2000, he has been
National University, Kanagawa, in 2016 and involved in the research and development of 4G
2018, where he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. and 5G radio access technologies, including
degree. From 2018 to 2021, he was a researcher concept development, standardization, and trials.
at 6G Laboratories, NTT DOCOMO. Since April He is currently working on “5G evolution & 6G”
2021, he has been a research fellow of Japan and is the main author of “DOCOMO 6G White
Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). His Paper.” He has more than 400 granted patents in
current research interests include communication the area of mobile communications. In 2012, he
theory and coded modulation for MIMO sys- received the ITU Association of Japan Award for
tems. his global contributions to LTE.

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