GIVE
Member of Executive Meeting

NAKAO Akihiro

01
  • Professor, Department of Systems Innovation

Research Summary
Research and development aimed at next-generation communication technologies, Beyond 5G/6G, are rapidly progressing. Recent large-scale communication disruptions have highlighted the urgent need for strengthening the resilience and reliability of communication infrastructures.

Beyond 5G/6G aims not only for further improvements in high capacity, low latency, and massive connectivity but also targets low power consumption, safety, autonomy, and scalability. Additionally, integration between computational sciences and communication engineering, such as edge computing, software-defined networking, and AI applications, is advancing. It is expected that AI and machine learning will enable automated operations, predictive maintenance, and power efficiency in communication infrastructures.

We are particularly focused on constructing next-generation cyber infrastructure through the fusion of communication technologies and AI. Additionally, we aim to achieve low latency and low power consumption through All Photonics Network (APN), expand coverage areas utilizing Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), promote interoperability between diverse vendors through OpenRAN, optimize traffic and detect faults using AI, and achieve high-capacity communication by comprehensively integrating Sub6, millimeter-wave, and centimeter-wave bands.

Furthermore, we actively participate in international standardization activities such as 3GPP, ITU, O-RAN, and AI-RAN, aiming at early consensus-building on technical concepts, international academic-industrial collaborations, and nurturing future talent. Through validation in local communities for social implementation and acceptance, we strive to establish practical and socially accepted infrastructures, ultimately aiming to realize a communication infrastructure that serves as a vital lifeline for national security and society.

Laboratory

https://www.nakao-lab.org/

Biography

March 1991: Bachelor of Science in Physics, The University of Tokyo
March 1994: Master of Science in Information Engineering, The University of Tokyo
April 1994: Joined IBM Japan, Ltd. (Resigned in 2005)
March 2000: Princeton University, Computer Science, M.S.
March 2005: Princeton University, Computer Science, Ph.D.
April 2005: Associate Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, the University of Tokyo
February 2014: Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, the University of Tokyo
April 2016: Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, the University of Tokyo
April 2019: Adviser to the President of the University of Tokyo
October 2019: Vice Dean of Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, the University of Tokyo
April 2020: Special Adviser to the President of the University of Tokyo (~present)
April 2021: School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo (transfer, ~present)
April 2021: Director, Collaborative Research Institute for NGCI,（Next-Generation Cyber Infrastructure）, the University of Tokyo (~present)
April 2023: Chair of Department of System Innovations, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo
April 2024: Deputy Chair of Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo

Award History

  • Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications "Radio Day" Award, Director-General of the Kanto Bureau of Telecommunications (2023)
  • IEICE Communications Society Distinguished Service Award (2022)
  • IEICE Technical Committee on Network Systems Contribution Award (2022)
  • Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications "Radio Day" Award, Director-General of the Chugoku Bureau of Telecommunications (2021)
  • IEICE Achievement Award: "Pioneering Research on Hyper-Intelligent Network Softwarization for 5G/Beyond 5G" (2020)
  • NTT DOCOMO Mobile Science Award (Advanced Technology Category: "Research and Development on Network Virtualization") (2017)
  • ITU Association of Japan International Activity Encouragement Award (Merit Category) (2016)
  • Best Demo Award, Global Environment for Network Innovations (2014)
  • Multiple Best Paper Awards and Technical Meeting Awards from IEICE Technical Committees

Published Paper

[1]. Akihiro Nakao, “Enabling LEO Satellite Mobile Direct NB-IoT Communication With Exisiting Unmodified UEs”, IEEE Globecom 2024 OpenRIT6G Workshop, Dec. 2024.
[2]. Koki Horita and Akihiro Nakao, “Dynamic Control of Target BLER by nearRT-RIC for Enhanced TCP Throughput for 6G”, IEEE Globecom 2024, Dec. 2024.
[3]. Kazuya Hirotsu, Fabrizio Granelli, and Akihiro Nakao,” LoRa-based Localization for Drones: Methodological Enhancements Explored through Simulations and Real-World Experiments”, IEEE Access, pp. 145988 – 145996, Sep. 2024.
[4]. Qianqian Pan and Akihiro Nakao, “AI-enabled Traffic Flow-Prediction and Function-Configuration for 5G Networks: An Integrated Design of High Reliability and Low Cost”, IEEE ICC 2024, Jun. 2024 (Best Paper Award).
[5]. Akihiro Nakao, “Software-defined Local6G Campus Testbed for Democratizing 6G Innovations”, IEEE DySpan, Local6G Workshop, May 2024.
[6]. Akihiro Nakao and Ping Du, “Toward In-Network Deep Machine Learning for Identifying Mobile Applications and Enabling Application Specific Network Slicing”, IEICE Transactions E101-B, No.7, pp.1536-1543, Jul. 2018.
[7]. Nakao A., Du P., Kiriha Y., Granelli F., Gebremariam A.A., Tale T., Bagaa M. “End-to-end network slicing for 5G mobile networks”, Journal of Information Processing, Volume 25, Pages 153 - 16315 February 2017
[8]. Berman M., Chase J.S., Landweber L., Nakao A., Ott M., Raychaudhuri D., Ricci R., Seskar I. ,“GENI: A federated testbed for innovative network experiments”, Computer Networks, Volume 61, Pages 5 - 2314 March 2014
[9]. Akihiro Nakao, Larry Peterson, Andy Bavier, “Scalable routing overlay networks”, Operating Systems Review (ACM)Volume 40, Issue 1, Pages 49
[10]. Akihiro Nakao, Larry Peterson, Andy Bavier, “A Routing Underlay for Overlay Networks”, Computer Communication Review, Volume 33, Issue 4, Pages 11 – 18, October 2003 (Proceedings of ACM SIGCOMM 2003: Conference on Computer Communications)