TOKYO, Japan, Mar 5, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today that it has developed a new system powered by FEEL TECH™ haptic technology that allows fans to experience physical sensations transmitted from artists, creating a stronger sense of closeness with their idols. To demonstrate the system's experiential value, DOCOMO collaborated with Cover Corporation to create trial content featuring the VTuber group “hololive English -Myth-.”

FEEL TECH™ digitizes, transmits and reproduces human sensations, including touch (haptics) and emotional cues, through a hand-held haptic device. When synchronized with audio-visual content, the technology delivers immersive experiences. DOCOMO is now applying these capabilities to enhance Japan's rapidly growing “oshi-katsu” culture, in which fans actively support and engage with their favorite actors and other idols, including anime and game characters.

Until now, fan experiences have been limited primarily to watching and listening. However, DOCOMO's new system adds haptic sensations to greatly expand the possibilities for artistic expression. Artists can now convey movement, energy and emotion through haptic feedback, communicating feelings that go beyond words and facial expressions.

By enabling fans to experience physical sensations transmitted from favorite artists, DOCOMO's system creates a heightened sense of presence—so immersive it feels as if they are right beside the artist, realizing a deeper, more personal emotional connection.

To validate the system, DOCOMO created trial content featuring the VTuber group hololive English -Myth-. Trial participants can select one of the three members to experience physical sensations synchronized to on-screen actions, including dynamic movements such as dancing and high-fives, as well as subtler sensations like heartbeats. Compared to conventional audio-visual viewing, the addition of haptic feedback significantly enhances immersion and realism, deepens the bond between fan and artist, and opens new avenues for creative expression. The effectiveness of this next-generation experience is now being evaluated through user participation.

DOCOMO will showcase this experiential content at the International Innovations section of  South by Southwest (SXSW) 2026 in Austin, Texas, USA from March 12 to 14.

Through this initiative, DOCOMO aims to pioneer a new culture of communication, part of its mission to create meaningful value that enriches people's lives.

FEEL TECH is a registered trademark of NTT DOCOMO.

About NTT DOCOMO

NTT DOCOMO, Japan's leading mobile operator with over 91 million subscribers, is one of the global leaders in 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies. Under the slogan “Bridging Worlds for Wonder & Happiness,” DOCOMO is actively collaborating with global partners to expand its business scope from mobile services to comprehensive solutions, aiming to deliver unsurpassed value and drive innovation in technology and communications, ultimately to support positive change and advancement in global society. https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/

TOKYO, Mar 2, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and SoftBank Corp. (SoftBank) today announced the launch of a demonstration experiment using SoftBank's AI-RAN product(1) "AITRAS" to deploy edge AI applications(2) within the edge data center(3) "DIAVAULT" solution installed at MHI's Yokohama Hardtech Hub (YHH). This demonstration will verify the effectiveness of high-speed AI inference executed over a secure and stable communication environment isolated from external networks in an on-premises(4) setting.

Furthermore, both companies have agreed to integrate MHI's highly scalable edge data center facility technologies with "AITRAS" to enable AI execution in real-world environments, aiming for social implementation of a new AI infrastructure.

Background of Collaboration

In recent years, efforts to enhance the operation and maintenance of equipment through AI, referred to as "AI Transformation," have accelerated across various industries, including energy and industrial machinery. To utilize AI effectively in such real-world environments, there is a growing demand for data centers that can be installed closer to the operational sites and provide an AI execution environment that balances stable communication and data security.

Overview of Demonstration Experiment

The Edge Data Center "DIAVAULT" in YHH

In response to these practical challenges, as the first step of this collaboration, an AI-RAN environment using "AITRAS" will be constructed within the on-premises "DIAVAULT" solution. An AI application developed by MHI that can "Defect Detection & Repair AI Application for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Products" will be deployed within this environment for demonstration testing.

During the demonstration, image and video data sent from field workers' smart devices will be analyzed in real-time within the closed network environment to identify fault locations and suggest appropriate repair methods.

Value Delivered by This Demonstration

Through this demonstration, the following three points will be validated:

1. Real-time analysis through edge AI processing
AI processing is completed within the closed network without passing through the cloud, significantly reducing data transmission and analysis latency under a stable communication infrastructure.
2. Enhanced security and closed network environment
A secure AI inference environment is established that prevents confidential product data from leaving the company.
3. Efficiency and standardization of repair operations
AI-based fault identification reduces the operational burden that previously relied on the expertise of skilled technicians.

Future Outlook

Building on this collaboration agreement and demonstration experiment, both companies will leverage their respective strengths to develop a scalable and reliable edge AI operational platform that continuously adapts to AI advancements. They will also promote initiatives to accelerate customers' on-site "AI Transformation" through the creation of innovative solutions.

(1) A technology concept that realizes both RAN (Radio Access Network) control functions and AI server functions on the same hardware platform. "AITRAS" is an integrated AI-RAN product that provides high-capacity, high-performance, and high-quality communication networks at carrier grade and also enables the provision of AI applications.
(2) Applications that perform data processing and AI inference at the site where the data is created, rather than in the cloud.
(3) A small-scale data center installed close to users and devices.
(4) A system where servers are placed at sites such as companies, factories, or research institutes rather than in the cloud, allowing direct management and processing of data.

- SoftBank, the SoftBank name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of SoftBank Group Corp. in Japan and other countries.

- Other company, product and service names in this press release are registered trademarks or trademarks of the respective companies.

About MHI Group

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world’s leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com.

TOKYO, Mar 2, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - NTT DOCOMO, INC. and NEC Corporation today announced the launch of Japan’s first commercial 5G core network (5GC) on Amazon Web Services (AWS) on February 26.(1) Advanced architecture, constructed using Agentic AI,(2) enables the network to flexibly and rapidly expand capacity, such as dynamically expanding its capacity in response to sudden traffic surges, for dramatically improved reliability, flexibility and sustainability.

In a separate world-first achievement(3), DOCOMO and NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc. in collaboration with NTT DOCOMO SOLUTIONS, Inc. have also successfully automated 5GC design and construction on AWS. To do this, they leveraged Agentic AI—a combination of AI and GitOps(4) in a hybrid cloud environment. This innovative approach prevents human error and reduces construction time by approximately 80% compared to conventional methods.

First in Japan to Construct and Commercially Launch 5GC on AWS

In March 2022, DOCOMO and NEC started verifying 5GC network equipment operating on a hybrid cloud using AWS, aiming to enhance network deployment flexibility and reliability. The process included testing the coordinated operation of the 5GC on AWS and DOCOMO’s proprietary virtualization platform,(5) as well as ensuring carrier-grade availability and operability.(6) Connecting the two platforms presented significant challenges, including network and security design considerations, but DOCOMO and NEC successfully overcame these issues to confirm that the 5GC operates seamlessly in a hybrid cloud environment.

Building on this success, DOCOMO and NEC have now implemented the necessary fault tolerance and redundancy for a commercial environment, creating a hybrid cloud that combines their virtualization platform with a public cloud. In developing this environment, DOCOMO defined the requirements, established design policies, and reviewed the implementation method for the hybrid cloud. NEC redesigned the entire architecture to establish a construction and operation model based on infrastructure as code (IaC)(7) and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD)(8) for AWS. This process incorporated AWS managed services, such as AWS CloudFormation,(9) AWS CodeBuild,(10) and AWS CodePipeline,(11) into the design.

This hybrid cloud environment is expected to improve network operational efficiency and enable the flexibility and reliability required in the 5G era. For example, building the 5GC on AWS in addition to a separate virtualization platform enables flexible operations, such as rapidly expanding capacity when network demand increases due to a sudden event, and scaling down when increased capacity is no longer needed.

Additionally, operational tests confirmed a power consumption reduction of approximately 70%(12) by running the 5GC on AWS Graviton2(13) processors and conducting operational tests in a hybrid cloud environment that connected the 5GC on Graviton2 with the 5GC on DOCOMO’s virtualization platform. In a commercial environment, the 5GC built on AWS Graviton3 is expected to reduce environmental impact similarly.

World’s First Automation of 5GC Network from Design to Construction Using GitOps and AI

DOCOMO and DOCOMO BUSINESS, in collaboration with DOCOMO SOLUTIONS, achieved the world’s first automation of 5GC design and construction using GitOps(14) and AI, aiming to prevent human error and shorten the construction period.

DOCOMO and DOCOMO SOLUTIONS used GitOps to automate construction from the cloud infrastructure up to the 5GC. DOCOMO BUSINESS automated the 5GC design and construction processes, as well as the development of Agentic AI, while NTT DOCOMO SOLUTIONS implemented and verified the AWS infrastructure portion of GitOps.

To minimize manual tasks, such as designing configuration values, they adopted Agentic AI with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore,(15) AWS’s agentic AI platform for building, deploying, and operating effective agents securely at scale, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP),(16) creating a new architecture integrated with GitOps.

Conventionally, 5GC construction required the creation and modification of numerous complex configuration files, a process that demanded significant manpower and time. However, by implementing Agentic AI with multiple AI agents using Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, DOCOMO BUSINESS was able to automate tasks such as designing configuration values, creating settings files, and issuing construction instructions to GitOps. Consequently, they succeeded in automating everything from design to construction. As a result, the 5GC construction period was reduced by approximately 80% compared to conventional methods.

In the future, the companies plan to improve access to their knowledge base and optimize task allocation among AI agents, aiming to achieve faster network speeds and higher precision. They will also expand the scope of AI utilization and accelerate efforts toward the complete automation of 5GC operations by enhancing reproducibility, reliability and operational efficiency through AI-driven generation and execution.

This automated 5GC construction solution using Agentic AI is currently on display at the NTT booth (Hall 3, Stand 3M29) at the 2026 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Through this exhibition, DOCOMO and NEC aim to communicate the innovation and uniqueness of their world-leading communication infrastructure for an AI-powered world.

Executive Comments

Nobuko Hiraguchi, Executive Officer, General Manager of Core Network Design Department, NTT DOCOMO, INC.
“This initiative is a major step forward in DOCOMO’s ongoing effort to advance networks. We have integrated AWS’s scalable cloud platform, which flexibly supports advanced initiatives, including AI, with NEC’s highly reliable 5GC and DOCOMO BUSINESS’s Agentic AI expertise. Also, combining on-premises and cloud technologies enhances network reliability and the ability to respond to demand. Furthermore, shortening the 5GC construction period on the public cloud through AI automation will allow us to deliver services to customers more quickly. I believe our proactive approach to embracing AI has led to this world-first achievement. DOCOMO will continue to take on new challenges to provide communication services that our customers will choose.”

Takashi Sato, Corporate Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Network Solutions Business Division of NEC Corporation
“NEC is proud to contribute to the transformation of communication infrastructure alongside DOCOMO and AWS by providing our 5GC software. Since 2022, we have been addressing the challenge of creating a carrier-grade 5GC network in the cloud through technical verification. This commercial deployment is the result of combining Japanese telecommunications technology with a global cloud platform to create world-leading communication infrastructure. NEC will continue to contribute to the network evolution of our telecommunications carrier partners in the future.”

Yuichi Ikejiri, Deputy Senior Vice President, Innovation Center, NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc.
“I am honored to have participated in this project. Agentic AI’s automated construction of 5GC will transform the core network construction process, which has traditionally required significant time and specialized knowledge for design, verification and configuration. Starting with this initiative, we will continue to leverage the power of AI to shorten service provision lead times, standardize design and construction processes, and ensure consistent quality, thereby enabling us to deliver services to the market more quickly and reliably.”

Mikihiko Tsunematsu, Director, Telecom, Media, Entertainment, Game & Sports, Strategic Business Unit, Amazon Web Services Japan
“NTT DOCOMO has led the telecommunications industry as a technology leader and has driven various innovations through its longstanding partnership with AWS. Applying AI and cloud to telecommunications unlocks new possibilities for operators to respond to customer needs more quickly and flexibly while delivering stable communication services. AWS will continue to collaborate with DOCOMO and NEC toward the evolution of telecommunications infrastructure that supports people's lives and industrial development.”

(1) As of March 2, 2026, based on DOCOMO research.
(2) System in which multiple AI agents, each with a specific role, automate an entire workflow toward a goal while dynamically updating their action plans according to the situation.
(3) As of March 2, 2026, based on DOCOMO research.
(4) Operational automation methodology for continuously aligning an environment by managing the entire state of infrastructure and application configurations (e.g., setting files and manifests) in Git and automatically detecting and synchronizing any differences.
(5) Proprietary platform developed by DOCOMO that can run core network equipment from multiple vendors. 70% of DOCOMO’s commercial core network equipment operates on this platform.
(6) NTT DOCOMO and NEC are Onboarding 5G SA Core Using Energy-efficient and High-performance AWS Cloud Computing Services
(7) Practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure components such as servers, networks, and storage through code (e.g., YAML or JSON). This approach enables infrastructure to be automatically built, modified, and reproduced.
(8) Method of automating the stages of the software release process, from building and testing to deployment, triggered by changes to the source code. It allows for the continuous integration and delivery of software.
(9) Infrastructure as Code (IaC) service that allows you to define AWS resource configurations as templates in YAML or JSON format, and then automatically create, update, or delete those AWS resources based on the template.
(10) Fully managed build service that compiles source code, runs tests, and produces software packages that are ready to deploy, without the need to manage servers.
(11) Continuous delivery service that automates the various stages of the software release process—such as fetching source code, building, testing, approval, and deployment—by defining them as stages and automatically orchestrating their execution.
(12) Family of processors designed by AWS for its cloud computing services. Graviton2 and Graviton3 are the- second and third-generation processors, respectively. For more information, see AWS’s website.
(13) NTT DOCOMO and NEC Reduce Power Consumption for 5G SA Core by an Average of 72% Using AWS Graviton2, followed by a Successful Onboarding of 5G SA Core on Hybrid Cloud
(14) Database system for storing and managing the change history of files and directories.
(15) Fully managed agent infrastructure service that provides the execution environment, memory management, and tool integration required to build, deploy, and operate AI agents securely and at scale.
(16) Standardized protocol that enables AI agents to access external tools and data sources securely and uniformly. It decouples the tool implementation from the AI interface, enhancing reusability and extensibility.Share

About NTT DOCOMO

NTT DOCOMO, Japan’s leading mobile operator with over 91 million subscribers, is one of the global leaders in 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies. Under the slogan "Bridging Worlds for Wonder & Happiness," DOCOMO is actively collaborating with global partners to expand its business scope from mobile services to comprehensive solutions, aiming to deliver unsurpassed value and drive innovation in technology and communications, ultimately to support positive change and advancement in global society. https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/

About NEC

The NEC Group leverages technology to create social value and promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. NEC Corporation was established in 1899. Today, the NEC Group’s approximately 110,000 employees utilize world-leading AI, security, and communications technologies to solve the most pressing needs of customers and society.⁠https://www.nec.com/en/

About DOCOMO BUSINESS

NTT Communications Corporation changed its name to NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc. on July 1, 2025. As an Industrial and Regional DX Platformer that drives digital transformation across industries and communities, we are enabling the development of a decentralized, autonomous, and collaborative society where businesses and communities can thrive sustainably. Our mission is to unlock new value and help create prosperity for all. https://www.ntt.com/en/index.html

TOKYO, Feb 27, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701), in collaboration with Pegatron Corporation (Pegatron; 4938.TW) and Edgecore Networks, has obtained Bronze Badge certification from the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) for its new hardware products: Endeavor (Pegatron MPND400-2) and AMX3200 (Edgecore), components of the open and disaggregated 400G optical transponder platforms known as Phoenix, demonstrating the continued expansion of NEC's ecosystem portfolio.

TIP is a global collaborative community advancing the development and deployment of open, disaggregated, and interoperable telecommunications infrastructure.

The Phoenix solution is a standard specification defined by TIP's Open Optical and Packet Transport (OOPT) Project Group, that includes NTT, Telia, Telefonica, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, and MTN. OOPT is an operator-driven initiative responsible for the development of technical requirements and focused on the growth of open technologies, architectures, and interfaces in the optical and IP networking domains.

NEC’s Phoenix Solution consists of the NEC Network Operating System (NOS), white box hardware, and third-party optical transceivers, enabling highly flexible and scalable network deployments. The newly added Endeavor and AMX3200 platforms are both 1U-height white boxes designed for standard 19-inch rack mounting. Each is equipped with four CFP2-DCO ports supporting 400G coherent pluggable transceivers, enabling transmission capacity of up to 1.6Tbps per device for Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) applications.

The NEC NOS is universally deployed on Phoenix-certified white box platforms, providing advanced hardware management and supporting open APIs such as OpenConfig and YANG data models to ensure seamless integration and automation for network operators.

The NEC NOS has previously been awarded the TIP Phoenix Gold Badge in combination with the Galileo Flex-T white box. The new Bronze Badge certifications for Endeavor and AMX3200 further strengthen the Phoenix ecosystem, enabling network operators to benefit from a truly multi-vendor environment and enhancing the reliability and flexibility of optical transport networks.

Phoenix disaggregated 400G transponder solution
- NEC & Partner Eco-system -

"The Bronze Badge certification for the Endeavor and AMX3200 platforms further highlights the robustness of our optical networking solution ecosystem," said So Sato, Senior Director, Network Solutions Business Division, NEC Corporation. "This achievement demonstrates the value of openness, affirming our commitment to supporting operators with flexible solutions that meet diverse networking needs."

"The Telecom Infra Project is excited to see the broader impact of TIP’s Phoenix open transponder design across the industry. This new hardware solution greatly enriches the open transponders ecosystem by offering operators multiple choices to deploy this solution at scale," said Arturo Mayoral, Head of Transport Technology at TIP. "We are especially proud to see how the TIP test and validation program is enabling the community to accelerate interoperability among open solutions while reinforcing market confidence in their maturity and reliability."

"We are proud to achieve TIP Phoenix Bronze Badge certification for Pegatron’s Endeavor MPND400-2 muxponder in collaboration with NEC," said Dr. James Shue, SVP & CTO of Pegatron. "This certification validates our commitment to delivering high-quality, standards-based optical networking hardware for the open and disaggregated ecosystem. Pegatron remains dedicated to advancing open optical networking solutions that provide operators with greater flexibility and choice."

"Edgecore Networks is proud to expand our collaboration with NEC through the Phoenix ecosystem. Achieving TIP Bronze Badge certification for the AMX3200 underscores our shared commitment to delivering open, scalable, and interoperable optical transport solutions," said Nanda Ravindran, VP of Product Management and Planning of Edgecore. "By combining Edgecore’s open hardware innovation with NEC’s proven NOS and system integration expertise, we are empowering operators worldwide to accelerate network modernization with greater flexibility, efficiency, and confidence.

"These research results were obtained from a grant program (No.JPJ012368G50311) by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Japan.

About NEC

The NEC Group leverages technology to create social value and promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. NEC Corporation was established in 1899. Today, the NEC Group’s approximately 110,000 employees utilize world-leading AI, security, and communications technologies to solve the most pressing needs of customers and society.

For more information, please visit https://www.nec.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

TOKYO, Feb 27, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) has successfully demonstrated a technology in which Agentic AI autonomously manages the entire lifecycle of the User Plane Function (UPF)*, a primary function of 6G/5G core networks, from design, construction, and deployment through to operational monitoring. This research achievement was realized in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Based on NEC’s expertise and experience in communications service provider networks, this demonstration was achieved by leveraging "Kiro," an AWS agentic AI with an integrated development environment (IDE) and command-line interface (CLI). As a result, NEC confirmed that the time required from network design to initial service launch, which previously required several weeks with manual configuration by network operators, can be significantly reduced to just a few hours. In addition, automated anomaly detection and self-healing operations without human intervention were also verified using an AWS AI tool. These results demonstrate that automated orchestration of UPF utilizing an AWS AI tool contributes to reducing deployment burden for communications service providers (CSPs), improving operational efficiency, and accelerating service rollout.

Traditionally, building and deploying network functions required extensive manual configuration and advanced technical expertise, placing a heavy burden on network operators at CSPs. These manual processes also increased the risk of human error, which complicated fault isolation and recovery during network incidents. These issues contributed to longer service rollout timelines and rising operational costs.

Key Features

1. Autonomous UPF Deployment and Operation Enabled by AI

Drawing on expertise gained through designing, building, and operating commercial carrier networks, NEC embedded this knowledge into AI models capable of automatically generating and executing UPF deployment procedures. This enables not only automation of operational tasks but also supports truly autonomous network operations suitable for production environments.

2. Flexible Deployment Enabled by Cloud-Based Operational Models

By leveraging AWS, NEC can apply cloud-native operational models directly to CSP environments, enabling flexible deployment across networks, including edge locations and on premises systems.

Benefits / Value

• Reduces network function deployment time from weeks to hours—from network design to initial service launch (compared to traditional manual deployment methods at NEC)
• Minimizes human error and improves operational quality through automation
• Allows personnel without deep technical expertise to deploy and operate network functions, helping address labor shortages
• Supports CSPs with rapid service launches and maximizes revenue opportunities

This initiative represents an important achievement as a foundational technology for realizing autonomous network operations required in the future 6G era. Looking ahead, NEC will continue to take on new technological challenges based on its vision of being "AI Native," addressing the challenges that communications service providers may face both today and in the future as networks become increasingly complex.

A demonstration based on the verified environment will be showcased at the AWS booth during MWC Barcelona 2026 (March 2–5, 2026), the world’s largest mobile industry event.

"The telecommunications industry is at an inflection point where AI-driven automation is becoming essential to build a competitive advantage by serving the end-customers faster and reducing the operating costs. NEC's breakthrough in autonomous UPF orchestration demonstrates how AWS AI services can fundamentally transform network operations, enabling communications service providers to deploy complex 5G infrastructure in hours rather than weeks. This level of automation democratizes advanced network deployment capabilities, allowing operators to serve the ever-increasing capacity needs and focus their innovation efforts on service differentiation rather than manual configuration and operational tasks. This collaboration with NEC exemplifies the intelligent automation that will define the next generation of telecommunications infrastructure."
-Amir Rao, Global Director, GTM and Telco Solutions at Amazon Web Services

"Validating the automation of UPF deployment and operations using AI and GitOps in an AWS environment is an important accomplishment for NEC. This technology does more than just improve operational efficiency. By embedding the design and operational expertise that NEC has cultivated through commercial networks into AI, we aim to enable autonomous operations and achieve a significant improvement in end-to-end efficiency across UPF deployment and operations, including on-site activities. NEC will continue to contribute to the realization of autonomously operable mobile networks that are required for the 6G era, providing environments that allow communications service providers to focus on creating service value."
- Takashi Sato, Corporate Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Network Solutions Business Division of NEC Corporation

A portion of the technologies used in this project were obtained from a grant program (No. JPJ012368G50701) by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Japan.

(*) User Plane Function: The processing of user data traffic in the 5G Core Network (5GC).

About NEC

The NEC Group leverages technology to create social value and promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. NEC Corporation was established in 1899. Today, the NEC Group’s approximately 110,000 employees utilize world-leading AI, security, and communications technologies to solve the most pressing needs of customers and society. For more information, please visit https://www.nec.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

TOKYO, Feb 27, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation has expanded the capabilities of its User Plane Function (UPF, *1) for telecom operators by adding support for second-generation AWS Outposts racks (*2), further strengthening its multi deployment model. With this enhancement, NEC’s UPF can now operate consistently across on-premises environments, the cloud, edge locations, and AWS Outposts racks installed within operators’ network sites. This enables flexible deployment design that is tailored to traffic characteristics and service requirements.

NEC’s UPF is designed for lightweight, high performance operation in telecom networks, achieving 200 Gbps throughput while limiting CPU usage to only 20% of total CPU cores on second generation AWS Outposts racks. This lightweight architecture enables easier coexistence with other workloads on second-generation AWS Outposts racks and supports the deployment of low-latency, edge-based services such as network slicing and service application integration. These capabilities have been achieved through close collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Another key feature of NEC’s UPF is its unified software architecture, which delivers a consistent experience from edge sites to centralized deployments. The same software can be used when deployed on second generation AWS Outposts racks, ensuring network wide consistency in design and operations. With a cloud optimized approach that incorporates continuous updates and automated operations, NEC enables labor efficient, stable, large scale network operation. This supports telecom operators’ diverse network strategies, from leveraging existing infrastructure to adopting cloud native architectures.

With edge deployments expected to accelerate in the 6G era, NEC has combined expanded cloud adoption options enabled by second-generation AWS Outposts racks with the space- and power-efficient design of its UPF to achieve efficient edge rollouts and the integration of edge environments with cloud services.

The provision of this solution helps to advance NEC’s "AI Native" vision for society and contributes to solving social challenges.

"NEC's innovative approach to User Plane Function deployment exemplifies how AWS Outposts enables telecommunications operators to modernize their infrastructure without compromising on the application's mission-critical performance or the operational consistency delivered by the cloud. With second-generation AWS Outposts, NEC delivers the cloud-native agility that operators need while maintaining the low-latency, high-throughput performance that 5G services demand. This collaboration demonstrates AWS's commitment to helping telecommunications partners build mission critical, high-performance, flexible, and scalable networks that will power the next generation of connected experiences."
- Amir Rao, Global Director, GTM and Telco Solutions at Amazon Web Services

"Enabling NEC’s UPF, which is designed for multi-platform environments, to run on second-generation AWS Outposts racks will expand the range of choices that communications service providers have for network design and operations. The UPF supports both rapid service deployment and stable operations while minimizing design and operational complexity, thereby strengthening service providers’ ability to deliver reliable services. Going forward, NEC will continue to pursue the realization of network platforms that seamlessly and pragmatically integrate cloud and network technologies, contributing to value creation for communications service providers."
- Takashi Sato, Corporate Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Network Solutions Business Division of NEC Corporation

A portion of the technologies used in this project were obtained from a grant program (No. JPJ012368G50701) by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Japan.

*1)User Plane Function: The processing of user data traffic in the 5G Core Network (5GC).
*2)AWS Outposts is a family of fully managed solutions that brings AWS infrastructure and services to virtually any on-premises or edge location for a consistent hybrid experience. Second-generation AWS Outposts racks deliver up to 40% better compute performance than the first generation, simplify network operations, enable cost-efficient scaling of on-premises workloads, and are optimized for ultra-low-latency, high-throughput requirements.

About NEC

The NEC Group leverages technology to create social value and promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. NEC Corporation was established in 1899. Today, the NEC Group’s approximately 110,000 employees utilize world-leading AI, security, and communications technologies to solve the most pressing needs of customers and society. For more information, please visit https://www.nec.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Highlights:

• Integration of the proposed technologies will help address the transmission and computational infrastructure challenges faced when implementing AI agents.
• This trial verified the effectiveness of optimizing the transmission and computational processing of high-volume data handled by AI agents.
• This initiative has been selected for exhibition at the Japan Pavilion at MWC 2026, where the research findings and underlying concept will be presented to an international audience.

TOKYO, Japan, Feb 26, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - The Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo (Tokyo; Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering: Professor Yasuhiro Kato; Head of the Nakao Research Laboratory: Professor Akihiro Nakao; hereinafter "The University of Tokyo"), NTT, Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo; President and CEO: Akira Shimada; hereinafter "NTT"), and NEC Corporation (Headquarters: Tokyo; President and CEO Takayuki Morita; hereinafter "NEC") have integrated three newly proposed technologies on a 6G(*1)/IOWN(*2) platform to realize the widespread use of AI agents(*3) supporting a safer and more secure society. Through this initiative, the three parties have combined streaming semantic communication technology(*4), AI-oriented media control technology(*5), and In-Network Computing (INC) architecture technology(*6) to optimize the high-volume data transmission and computational processing required for AI agents. The effectiveness of these technologies has been quantitatively verified through a trial, and plans are slated for this initiative to be showcased at the Mobile World Congress 2026 (MWC 2026) Japan Pavilion, where the research findings and underlying concept will be presented to an international audience.

Figure 1. Overview of the technologies integrated on the 6G/IOWN platform

1. Background and significance of this three-party collaboration

International collaboration and global standardization are vital to the advancement of telecommunications, which serves as a universal platform accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world, and should therefore be considered from a global value perspective. In recent years, the importance of safety and security has grown, as both offer global value.

To realize a safer and more secure society, the ability to quickly perceive and take appropriate action in response to disasters, accidents, cyberattacks, and other rapidly evolving situations is imperative. However, relying solely on personnel and predefined rules to respond to such situations has its limitations, making the use of AI essential. Utilizing AI agents enables autonomous, real-time perception of the situation at hand, helping to prevent potential damage and minimize the impact of any damage that does occur.

Meanwhile, next-generation ICT infrastructure capable of processing and transmitting massive amounts of data with low latency and high reliability is vital to enhancing the functionality of AI agents.

Against this backdrop, The University of Tokyo, NTT, and NEC—all three of which possess strengths in 6G and IOWN—have united under The University of Tokyo’s Social Cooperation Program to conduct research and development on 6G and IOWN platform technologies to realize AI agents supporting safety and security.

2. Research background

While the use of AI in recent years has primarily centered on models that act based on human prompts, the utilization of AI agents capable of acting autonomously based on sensor data and other non-human-originated inputs without relying on specific instructions from human operators is expected to become increasingly common in the society of the future. In turn, these advancements will enable the realization of AI agents that support safety and security by continuously collecting and monitoring data from the surrounding environment and responding in real time when signs of abnormalities are detected.

However, the expanded use of continuously operating AI agents will cause the amount of multimodal data(*7) to skyrocket, and existing ICT infrastructure is not equipped to support such a drastic increase in data due to the technological challenges listed below.

(1) Insufficient wireless bandwidth

Continuous transmission of vast amounts of data from countless sensors and devices makes it difficult to secure sufficient wireless bandwidth.

(2) Increasing computational load due to round-the-clock AI processing of sensor data

If all sensor data is continuously processed using computationally intensive AI, it will cause an excessive computational load, making it difficult to respond in real time.

(3) Increasing computational load and power consumption with large-scale AI

Large-scale AI is required to analyze a wide range of sensor data, thereby increasing the need for computational capabilities and electrical power.

3. Technology highlights

In this research, the three parties proposed the following technological approaches to resolve the aforementioned challenges.

(1) Streaming semantic communication technology (The University of Tokyo)

This applied form of semantic communication detects contextual changes and transmits only semantic differences, thereby reducing wireless communication resources dramatically.

(2) AI-oriented media control technology (NEC)

Assigning a data identifier to an AI agent and then selectively feeding only key sensor data to the AI agent reduces the computational resources required for inference. Learning inference results from the AI agent, the data identifier is able to identify critical sensor data.

(3) In-Network Computing (INC) architecture technology (NTT)

Rather than relying on a single massive AI model, highly efficient and reliable AI processing is made possible by combining small, specialized AI distributed across the network with external information sources.

Figure 2. Technological challenges and the proposed approach

4. Trial Overview

This trial was conducted to verify the impact of the proposed technologies in terms of reducing latency through the improvement of transmission and computational processing efficiency, taking into account the characteristics of end-to-end latency(*8) (E2E latency) when using AI agents. In this trial, a video dataset including critical situations (60 seconds; 1,800 frames) was used to conduct a phase-by-phase evaluation of the configuration with which an AI agent processes video input from sensors. The intended use cases are scenarios requiring real-time performance where an AI agent continuously monitors the surroundings of a user wearing augmented reality (AR) glasses to identify environmental and contextual changes that can be used to predict and assess risk indicators.

First, the latency characteristics in a configuration where all frames fed from a sensor were sequentially processed using AI were assessed as a preliminary evaluation. The results confirmed that processing wait time increases cumulatively with each frame, resulting in a tendency for E2E latency to build over time. This implies an increase in the amount of time it takes from the occurrence of a critical situation in front of the user until assessment results and guidance are provided, thus revealing that this could pose an issue in use cases involving real-time AR assistance.

Next, on the basis of the results of the preliminary evaluation, a system configuration was assessed in which the proposed technology was applied in this trial. The evaluation confirmed that both communication traffic and computational load were reduced, and that E2E latency could be maintained at an almost constant level throughout the entire video stream. In addition, no tendency was observed for processing wait times to increase cumulatively. Furthermore, no degradation in AI inference accuracy was detected as a result of applying the proposed technology. These results demonstrate that, for this use case, which requires real-time performance, the proposed technology can stably reduce E2E latency while maintaining AI inference accuracy.

Figure 3.1. Use of AR glasses in the trial        Figure 3.2. AR glasses display

5. Roles and Responsibilities

(1) The University of Tokyo:

Responsible for research and development of streaming semantic communication technology, primarily contributing to addressing technical challenges related to bandwidth constraints in wireless network segments.

(2) NEC:

Responsible for research and development of AI-oriented media control technology primarily contributing to addressing the technical challenge of increased computational load resulting from continuous AI processing of sensor data.

(3) NTT:

Responsible for research and development of In-Network Computing (INC) technology, primarily contributing to addressing technical challenges related to increased computational load and power consumption associated with the scaling of AI models.

Through the interaction and integration of each party’s technologies, the collaboration has also enabled contributions to addressing additional technical challenges beyond their primary areas of responsibility.

6. Future outlook

This initiative has been selected for exhibition at the Japan Pavilion at MWC 2026, where the research findings and underlying concept will be presented to an international audience.

Going forward, with a view toward the social implementation of the research findings, the three parties will accelerate research and development aimed at realizing AI agents and next-generation ICT infrastructure that support safety and security.

Notes:

*1.6G
6G (sixth-generation mobile communication systems) refers to next-generation mobile communication technologies currently under research as the successor to 5G. In addition to ultra-high speed, ultra-low latency, and high reliability, 6G is expected to provide a communications infrastructure designed to support massive device connectivity and AI-native applications.
*2.IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network)
The IOWN concept envisions a network and information processing infrastructure, including end devices, that optimizes both individuals and systems as a whole based on diverse information. By leveraging innovative technologies centered on optical communications, IOWN aims to provide ultra-high-speed, large-capacity communications and vast computational resources.
*3.AI Agent
An AI agent is an AI technology that understands objectives based on surrounding conditions and input data, and autonomously makes decisions and takes actions to execute tasks. In addition to conventional AI systems that operate based on human-issued instructions (prompts), growing attention is being given to AI agents that continuously perceive and assess their environment using non-human-originated inputs, such as sensor data.
*4.Streaming semantic communication technology
Semantic communication is a communication method that focuses on the meaning and importance of data, extracting and compressing only the necessary information for transmission. Compared with conventional bit-level communication, it significantly reduces communication volume while efficiently transmitting information required for AI processing. Streaming semantic communication technology is an applied form of semantic communication that detects changes in surrounding context and transmits only semantic differences, thereby dramatically reducing communication resource usage in wireless segments.
Related publication:
Shota Ono, Akihiro Nakao, "Semantic Communication Scheme for Real-Time Video Streaming Considering Temporal Semantic Continuity," IEICE Technical Report, March 2026 (in Japanese).
*5.AI-oriented media control technology
AI-oriented media control technology analyzes input data, such as sensor data and video, prior to AI processing and selectively filters it based on importance and necessity. This reduces the computational load required for AI inference, enabling improved real-time performance and more efficient use of computing resources.
Related publication:
K. Azuma, H. Itsumi and K. Nihei, "Similarity-based Frame Screening for Edge-Cloud In-Cabin Monitoring," In Proc. of 2026 IEEE 23rd Consumer Communications & Networking Conference (CCNC), Las Vegas, NV, USA, 2026.
*6.In-Network Computing (INC) architecture technology
In-Network Computing (INC) is an architecture that integrates computational functions, such as AI processing, within the core of mobile networks, allowing critical processing to be completed inside the network. By effectively utilizing distributed computing resources across devices, networks, and cloud systems, INC enables low-latency and highly reliable service delivery.
Related publications:
Kentaro Hayashi, Shiku Hirai, Tatsuya Matsukawa, and Hiroki Baba, "High-Speed End-to-End Information Synchronization and Collaboration Technology ‘In-Network Service Acceleration Platform’ for the 6G/IOWN Era," NTT Technical Journal, October 2024 (in Japanese).Kentaro Hayashi, Shota Ono, Tomonori Takeda, Akihiro Nakao, "Network and Cost-Aware Tool Selection System for MCP-Integrated LLM," IEICE Technical Report, December 2025. (in Japanese).
Hiroki Baba, Kentaro Hayashi, Shiku Hirai and Tomonori Takeda, "Unified Control of Network and Compute Toward 6G In-Network Computing Service," In Proc. of 2026 IEEE 23rd Consumer Communications & Networking Conference (CCNC), Las Vegas, NV, USA, 2026.
*7.Multimodal data
Multimodal data refers to data that combines multiple types (modalities) of information, such as video, audio, sensor data, and location information.
*8.End-to-end latency
End-to-end latency refers to the total time required for data to be transmitted from the source, processed at the destination, and returned as a response. It includes both communication latency and computational processing latency, and is a critical metric for AI services that require real-time performance.

About The University of Tokyo

The University of Tokyo is Japan's leading university and one of the world's top research universities. The vast research output of some 6,000 researchers is published in the world's top journals across the arts and sciences. Our vibrant student body of around 15,000 undergraduate and 15,000 graduate students includes over 5,000 international students.

About NTT

NTT contributes to a sustainable society through the power of innovation. We are a leading global technology company providing services to consumers and businesses as a mobile operator, infrastructure, networks, applications, and consulting provider. Our offerings include business consulting, agentic AI solutions, managed application services, cloud, data center and edge computing, all supported by our deep global industry expertise. We are over $90 billion in revenue and 340,000 people, investing 30% of our profits into fundamental research and development each year. Our operations span across 70+ countries and regions, allowing us to serve clients in over 190 of them. We serve 75% of Fortune Global 100 companies, thousands of enterprises, government clients and millions of consumers.

About NEC Corporation

The NEC Group leverages technology to create social value and promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. NEC Corporation was established in 1899. Today, the NEC Group’s approximately 110,000 employees utilize world-leading AI, security, and communications technologies to solve the most pressing needs of customers and society. For more information, please visit https://www.nec.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

TOKYO, Feb 26, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701), a leading global IT and network transformation services provider, today announced that it has been selected by Eletronet, an Axia Energia company and widely recognized Brazilian Telecom and IT infrastructure provider, to modernize its optical backbone with the deployment of Nokia's optical solutions. The project adds 8,000 kilometers of new fiber routes. This expansion will reach a total of 26,000 kilometers across 23 Brazilian states, covering all regions of the country by the end of 2026. The network will be upgraded with the Nokia 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) and Nokia 1830 Global Express (GX) platforms to further enhance infrastructure reliability and stability. The modernization will enable services with speeds of up to 1.2 Tb/s per optical channel and ensure higher quality data transport. Project integration, including work coordination and equipment deployment, will be led by NEC as the system integrator.

Eletronet is investing BRL 157 million (USD 30.4 million) in this initiative to reinforce its role as a neutral connectivity hub. The infrastructure uses OPGW fiber optic cables installed on power transmission lines, providing high resilience and availability. This modernization includes the creation of 85 new Edge Data Centers. These units will bring the company’s total to 255 Edge Data Centers nationwide to support low-latency applications.

To further optimize this network, the project is based on Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) technology and a flexible optical grid, embedded in Nokia solutions. These technologies optimize long-haul transport, expand revenue opportunities by handling traffic growth more dynamically, and reinforce high-demand routes with compact, energy-efficient equipment.

ROADM functions as an "intelligent traffic system," enabling remote reconfiguration, new route activation, and traffic rerouting—accelerating service turn-up, reducing response times, and increasing overall service stability. With the flexible optical grid, Eletronet can transport more data over the same fiber, enabling these ultra-high speeds without new fiber installations, ensuring scalability for future demand and large strategic projects.

NEC and Nokia will continue delivering robust optical network solutions to support Eletronet’s growth, driving broader and faster internet coverage across Brazil. By enabling scalable, high-performance connectivity, both companies aim to foster digital transformation and AI-driven innovation, contributing to economic development and a more connected society for the future.

"We are living in a moment of rapidly growing data traffic, driven by cloud applications, intensive use of Artificial Intelligence, and the continuous increase in connected devices. This scenario demands increasingly robust networks to keep pace with the digital economy. The modernization of our backbone directly addresses this need, ensuring that Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecom operators and submarine cable operators, data centers, and hyperscalers have an infrastructure ready to support the country’s growth."
- Rogério Garchet, CEO, Eletronet

"Advancing our backbone is essential to support Eletronet’s next expansion cycles and the delivery of high-quality services. Leveraging the experience of Nokia and NEC in this project strengthens our continuous evolution strategy and ensures the levels of quality, security, and performance our customers require."
- Emerson Hioki, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Eletronet"

This is a highly relevant project for Brazil. With Nokia’s solutions, Eletronet is reinforcing the infrastructure needed to support growing demand across market segments for low-latency connectivity, increased capacity, and distributed processing. At the same time, it expands broadband connectivity options and access to digital services across different regions of the country. We value Eletronet’s trust in Nokia and NEC’s partnership with us on this initiative."
- Rafael Mezzasalma, Nokia Director for Brazil"

NEC is delighted to support Eletronet’s business expansion in collaboration with Nokia. Leveraging decades of optical networking expertise built on our Global Center of Excellence, we are committed to building a robust optical foundation worldwide that fuels business growth and delivers positive social impact."
- Masayuki Kayahara, Corporate SVP, Global Network Division, NEC Corporation

Technical Information, Multimedia, and Related News
Website: Nokia Optical Networks
Website: Nokia 1830 PSS
Website: Nokia 1830 Global Express
Website: NEC Network Transformation Service for Value Added Solutions

About NEC

The NEC Group leverages technology to create social value and promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. NEC Corporation was established in 1899. Today, the NEC Group’s approximately 110,000 employees utilize world-leading AI, security, and communications technologies to solve the most pressing needs of customers and society.

For more information, please visit https://www.nec.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

TOKYO, Japan, Feb 25, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - NTT DOCOMO, INC. and Keio University Haptics Research Center announced today that they have successfully conducted a demonstration of high-precision remote robot operation over commercial 5G. By combining Configured Grant,*1 a low-latency network slicing technology,*2 with Keio's Real Haptics® technology,*3 delicate force feedback and tactile sensations were transmitted stably. This marks the world's first demonstration*4 of Configured Grant enabling practical robot teleoperation over commercial 5G.

In the experiment, Configured Grant was applied to the radio link between the terminal and base station to minimize latency and jitter. Results confirmed that latency requirements for practical teleoperation of Real Haptics robots were met, while force reproducibility and operability were improved.

To convey precise force feedback when a remote robot interacts with objects controlled by an operator at a distant location, mobile data communication must maintain low latency and minimal jitter. High or fluctuating latency can disrupt synchronization between the operator and remote robot. This compromises the precise force reproduction of Real Haptics, hindering delicate robot operation.

DOCOMO and Keio University have previously collaborated on the development and testing of Real Haptics for robot teleoperation over mobile networks.*5 By reducing the impact of latency in the wireless segment, highly precise and delicate remote robot control can now be performed stably even under network congestion.

Going forward, the two organizations will continue developing and testing technologies to accelerate the practical use of advanced robot teleoperation.

This demonstration will be exhibited at the NTT Group's booth during MWC Barcelona 2026, organized by GSMA and held in Barcelona, Spain, from March 2 to March 5, 2026.

*1 A scheduling method in which the base station pre-allocates communication resources to specific devices.
*2 A network slicing technology that provides virtualized network segments optimized for low latency.
*3 A technology invented by Professor Kohei Onishi (Keio University Haptics Research Center) that transmits tactile and contact information bidirectionally and reproduces human force on robots.
*4 As of February 25, 2026, according to DOCOMO's research.
*5 NTT DOCOMO, “Evolution of robotics with Force & Tactile Tele-Transmission“ (Japanese only)

Real Haptics® is a registered trademark of MotionLib Inc.

About NTT DOCOMO

NTT DOCOMO, Japan's leading mobile operator with over 91 million subscribers, is one of the global leaders in 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies.Under the slogan “Bridging Worlds for Wonder & Happiness,“ DOCOMO is actively collaborating with global partners to expand its business scope from mobile services to comprehensive solutions, aiming to deliver unsurpassed value and drive innovation in technology and communications, ultimately to support positive change and advancement in global society. https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/

About Keio University Global Research Institute Haptics Research Center

The Haptics Research Center is aiming to make RealHaptics technology widely and universally available to consumers and companies worldwide and operates a council for RealHaptics technology in which private companies also participate. As a research institution for RealHaptics technology, Keio University holds a core set of related patents. Furthermore, the Haptics Research Center works closely with companies to carry out joint research to explore new applications for the technology. https://haptics-c.keio.ac.jp/

Appendix

Overview of the Demonstration

1. Background

Real Haptics® is a technology that reproduces the force sensation of touching objects on a robot. Using Real Haptics, a remote operator can perform delicate tasks by controlling a robot with precise force. By synchronizing the position, force, and speed between the operator robot (the “leader“) and the remote robot (the “follower“) in real time, the system conveys the sensation of touch to the operator and transfers subtle force to the target object.

Applying advanced robots like Real Haptics over mobile data networks enables outdoor operation and expands potential use cases. However, latency and jitters in mobile networks make stable robot teleoperation challenging. In Real Haptics, network delays can hinder force feedback, cause jerky movements, and reduce operational precision.

DOCOMO and Keio University have been exploring various approaches, developing and verifying technologies to reduce the impact of latency and jitters on wireless robot teleoperation. Previously, the two organizations demonstrated the effectiveness of combining network functions that stabilize latency with robot functions that mitigate its negative effects. For this demonstration, it focused on the wireless segment, which has a strong influence on mobile network latency, and introduced Configured Grant, a new approach that directly reduces latency and jitters.

2. Overview of Configured Grant

Configured Grant, a low-latency network slicing technique, assigns dedicated communication resources in advance to specific devices under a base station. This helps minimize latency and jitters in the wireless segment, regardless of network congestion.

Normally, mobile devices communicate with a base station using the Dynamic Grant method (see Figure 1, left). When a device has data to transmit, it first requests communication resources from the base station. The base station then allocates resources based on the status of other devices and notifies the requesting device. The devices then use these resources to transmit the data. The time between the resource request and actual data transmission is known as scheduling delay. This delay always occurs under Dynamic Grant and can fluctuate depending on network conditions, posing a major challenge for stable remote operation of advanced robots, especially in congested networks.

On the other hand, with Configured Grant (see Figure 1, right), the base station pre-allocates exclusive communication resources to a device (or a line) for a specific period. The device can transmit data without requesting resources, effectively eliminating scheduling delay. As a result, both latency and jitters are reduced, enabling more stable wireless remote operation.

Figure 1: Overview of Data Communication Between Device and Base Station

Configured Grant provides a stable mobile network with consistently low latency, ideal for precise teleoperation of advanced robots, regardless of network conditions.

3. Network Configuration and Experimental Method

The demonstration used DOCOMO's commercial 5G SA network, connecting the operator robot (Leader) and remote robot (Follower) via a virtual server on docomo MEC®*1 running the Bilateral Edge Platform™,*2 a proprietary platform currently under development for robot control (Figure 2). Control data packets sent from one robot travel through the uplink via DOCOMO's commercial network and docomo MEC private network to the server. The server then forwards these packets to the other robot over the downlink. Real-time bidirectional packet exchange enables force feedback of Real Haptics control. Furthermore, to simulate realistic teleoperation conditions where video transmission traffic would be present, 20 Mbps of background traffic was added alongside the control traffic.

Configured Grant was implemented at both the base stations and 5G devices. When communication occurs over a line assigned Configured Grant settings, the mechanism becomes active, enabling low-latency transmission.

Figure 2: Experimental Configuration

For the experiment, a hand-type follower and its leader were used to perform a standardized task: grasping a hard wooden block, quickly moving the hand while varying applied force, and transporting it within a set time. The task was performed twice, once using 5G SA with Configured Grant and once using standard 5G SA without it, to compare performance (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Robot Operation

4. Results

Using 5G SA with Configured Grant, both the average communication latency and jitters (standard deviation) were lower compared to standard 5G SA without Configured Grant, meeting the latency requirements for practical teleoperation of Real Haptics robots. Furthermore, as latency characteristics improved, performance metrics for robot operation were also enhanced. The force-feedback reproduction rate*3 increased by 40% (24 points) with Configured Grant, providing more precise force feedback (Figure 4). The smoothness of robot operation, measured by Dimensionless Jerk Cost,*4 decreased by 59%, enabling smoother, more stable control (Figure 5).

Figure 4: Force Feedback Reproduction Results

Figure 5: Robot Motion Smoothness Results

*1 A cloud service providing Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) features for the 5G era, including low latency and high security.
*2 A platform service that combines ultra-low-latency mobile data communication with remote control and AI operation of force- and touch-sensitive robots.
*3 A measurement of how accurately one robot replicates the force applied to the other robot. Values closer to 100% indicate higher fidelity.
*4 An indicator of motion smoothness based on acceleration changes. Lower values indicate smoother robot movements.

docomo MEC is a registered trademark of NTT DOCOMO, INC.
docomo MEC is provided by NTT DOCOMO, INC. and related services are consigned to and sold by NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, INC. as the agent.
Bilateral Edge Platform is a trademark of NTT DOCOMO, INC.

TOKYO, Japan, Feb 25, 2026 - (JCN Newswire) - NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today that it successfully demonstrated the operation of AI applications directly on the general-purpose CPU resources of virtualized radio access network (vRAN), deployed in its commercial network. This demonstration confirmed the potential of a network architecture design to address rapid traffic growth driven by the expansion of AI services while optimizing network operational costs.

With the growing adoption of AI-powered services such as generative AI and robot control, network traffic is expected to increase dramatically, and data traffic is expected to grow explosively in the coming years. DOCOMO has been exploring a next-generation network architecture design of “In-Network Computing,“*1 *2 in which AI processing is executed within the network itself. For telecommunications operators entering the AI era, continuously analyzing various types of data available within the network using AI by creating new value, while simultaneously achieving energy efficiency and sustainable network operations, has become a critical challenge.DOCOMO has been studying next-generation network architectures aimed at improving user experience, optimizing network traffic, and enabling optimal placement and effective utilization of computing resources, including various types of xPUs, by fully leveraging their respective characteristics. Specifically, DOCOMO seeks to enhance performance and efficiency for customers from both networking and AI perspectives by appropriately deploying high-performance GPUs - one of the key elements for advanced AI workloads - and CPUs, which are well suited for wide-area deployment and low-power, efficient operation, at suitable network nodes.

DOCOMO integrated a platform that enables vRAN functions and AI service applications to run simultaneously by utilizing CPU resources on general-purpose servers. The results confirmed that even when using CPUs, a certain level of AI processing can be executed in parallel with communication network processing. This achievement demonstrates that flexible operation combining network and AI applications is possible without relying on dedicated high-performance accelerators, thereby expanding viable options for efficient network deployment.

Going forward, DOCOMO will continue to study and promote the optimal placement of computing resources, including CPUs and GPUs, while taking actual traffic characteristics and requirements of various AI applications into account.

Operational Concept

(a) Conventional network architecture

(b) Network Architecture in this demonstration

This demonstration utilized a vRAN configuration composed of the following commercially deployed products:

• vRAN base station software, provided by NEC Corporation
• Virtualization infrastructure hosting the vRAN and AI applications, provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Accelerator cards for accelerating specific computational processing, provided by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
• Servers equipped with the above products, provided by HPE

Looking ahead, DOCOMO will continue to advance integration and verification of platforms for both network infrastructure and AI services toward the realization of “In-Network Computing,“ while pursuing further studies aimed at commercialization. In addition, DOCOMO will work in collaboration with business partners to realize optimal network architecture design for 6G and AI era.

This initiative will be showcased at the NTT Group's booth during Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2026, organized by GSMA and held in Barcelona, Spain, from March 2 to March 5, 2026.

*1 Press Release:“Successful demonstration of computing and mobile networks convergence to provide diverse services in the 6G era“
*2 Press Release:“NTT and DOCOMO Successfully Demonstrates On-Demand Unified Control of Computing Services Through Network and Service Integration“

About NTT DOCOMO

NTT DOCOMO, Japan's leading mobile operator with over 91 million subscribers, is one of the global leaders in 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies. Under the slogan “Bridging Worlds for Wonder & Happiness,” DOCOMO is actively collaborating with global partners to expand its business scope from mobile services to comprehensive solutions, aiming to deliver unsurpassed value and drive innovation in technology and communications, ultimately to support positive change and advancement in global society. https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/