July 3, 2024(Japanese version released on June 13, 2024)

Learning to Act in the Face of Uncertainty

Our brain learns and remembers actions differently based on the level of decision uncertainty

A study published online in the journal Nature Human Behaviour challenges the belief that identical physical actions are governed by the same motor memory, regardless of the decision-making process involved. Researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.) and HONDA R&D Co., Ltd. have discovered that the brain differentiates and stores motor memories based on the level of uncertainty experienced during decision-making.
In a football (soccer) penalty shootout, a player may decide to confidently kick the ball to the right corner upon observing the goalkeeper moving in the opposite direction. Alternatively, the player might make the same kick while being unsure about the goalkeeper’s movement. Although the physical action?kicking the ball to the right?is identical in both scenarios, this new study reveals that the brain tags these actions differently based on the decision uncertainty involved. This discovery suggests that motor memories are not simply repetitions of the same action but are influenced by the cognitive processes leading up to them.
“This was a very surprising finding. This tells us that we cannot treat actions as something totally independent from the cognitive process. Both are combined to make the representation of action,” says HAGURA Nobuhiro, a senior author of the paper.
This research opens up new avenues for developing novel training methods in sports. By associating skill training with various decision-making situations, athletes can enhance their performance by refining their motor memories in context-specific scenarios.
For more information about this study, please visit the Nature Human Behaviour website (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-01911-x).

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May 9, 2024

Developed Compiler Acceleration Technology for Quantum Computers

- Probabilistic method reduces optimal gate sequence search time by orders of magnitude -

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.), RIKEN (President: GONOKAMI Makoto, Ph.D.), Tokyo University of Science (President: Dr. ISHIKAWA Masatoshi), and the University of Tokyo (President: FUJII Teruo, Ph.D.) succeeded in developing a technique to quickly search for the optimal quantum gate sequence for a quantum computer using a probabilistic method.
To make a quantum computer perform a task, it must use a compiler to convert instructions written in a programming language into a sequence of gate operations on quantum bits, or qubits for short. We previously applied optimal control theory (GRAPE algorithm) to an exhaustive search to develop a method to identify the theoretically optimal gate sequence, but as the number of qubits increases, the number of possible combinations increases. As the number increases explosively, an exhaustive search becomes impossible. For example, if we were to perform an exhaustive search to find the optimal gate sequence for the task of generating an arbitrary quantum state of 6 qubits, it would take longer than the age of the universe using the fastest classical computer currently available.
Therefore, we attempted to develop a method to search for the optimal quantum gate sequence using a probabilistic approach and succeeded. Using the supercomputer Fugaku, it was confirmed and demonstrated that using a new probabilistic random search method, it is possible to search for the optimal quantum gate sequence for the above problem in a few hours.
This new method is expected to speed up quantum computer compilers, become a useful tool for practical quantum computers, and lead to improved performance of quantum computer devices. It can also be applied to optimize quantum information processing at quantum relay nodes, so it is expected to contribute to the realization of the quantum Internet and the reduction of environmental impact.
This result was published in the American scientific journal "Physical Review A" on May 6, 2024.

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Apr. 23, 2024

THine, NICT and Hiroshima University announced the development of 20Gb/s QPSK Wireless Transmission Technology with the World's First Mixed-Signal Baseband Demodulator Technology

TOKYO (April 23rd, 2024) - THine Electronics, Inc. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6769, “THine”), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (“NICT”), and Hiroshima University, a national university corporation (“Hiroshima University”), jointly announced the successful development of 20 gigabits per second (20Gb/s) QPSK wireless transmission technology with the world's first mixed-signal baseband demodulator technology, which would have a great advantage to achieve more power-efficient wireless data transmission for higher-speed appreciations.
THine was responsible for overall design and measurement, Hiroshima University for discussions on design and measurement, and NICT for discussions and measurement assistance.
Details of the technology was presented at the 2024 IEEE custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC) held from April 21st to April 24th in Denver, Colorado [1].
The results of this research pave the way of practical circuit implementations by newly-developed mixed-signal architectures for various applications that require higher-performance and more power-efficiency.

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Oct. 30, 2023

Successful Development of the World's First “Superconducting Wide-Strip Photon Detector”

- High-performance photon detection with superconducting strips over 200 times wider than conventional nanostrip -

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.) invented a novel structure in a superconducting strip photon detector that enables highly efficient photon detection even with a wide strip, and succeeded in developing the world's first “Superconducting Wide-Strip Photon Detector (SWSPD)”.
The strip width of the detector is over 200 times wider than that of the conventional Superconducting NanoStrip Photon Detectors (SNSPDs). With this technology, we can solve the problems of low productivity and polarization dependence which have been in the conventional SNSPDs. Our new SWSPD is expected to be applied into various advanced technologies such as quantum information communication and quantum computers, enabling early social implementation of these advanced technologies.
This result was published in the US scientific journal “Optica Quantum” on Thursday, October 26, 2023.

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Dec. 28, 2022
(Japanese version released on Dec. 8, 2022)

Toshiba, ToMMo, Tohoku University Hospital, and NICT Link Quantum Security and Personal Authentication, Successfully Deliver Secure Personalized Healthcare Use Case

Toshiba Corporation, Tohoku University Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization (ToMMo), Tohoku University Hospital, and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) have demonstrated the world's first*1personalized healthcare*2 system that stores genome data from many individuals in multiple locations and utilizes them for medical treatment and healthcare using an information theoretically secure method based on the quantum key distribution (QKD) link, the secret sharing system and personal authentication technology. This system is theoretically secure against the threat of store now and decrypt later attacks, prevents data leaks, falsification, and loss of genome data. In this system, data decryption and reconstruction*3 are performed by using personal authentication and individual consent. The system is expected to contribute to the realization and spread of personalized healthcare.
A part of this work was performed for Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI), Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP), “Photonics and Quantum Technology for Society 5.0” (Funding agency: QST).

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Oct.26, 2022
(Japanese version released on Oct.24,2022)

Toppan and NICT Establish World’s First Technology for Equipping Smart Card Systems with Post-Quantum Cryptography Selected by NIST

Effectiveness confirmed in pilot test on secure healthcare data system

Tokyo - October 24, 2022 -Toppan (TYO: 7911), a global leader in communication, security, packaging, decor materials, and electronics solutions, and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) have developed PQC CARDR, the world’s first smart card equipped with post-quantum cryptography, which is difficult for even a quantum computer to crack. The organizations have also successfully confirmed effectiveness by applying PQC CARDR to control access to H-LINCOS, a system for the secure long-term storage and exchange of healthcare data.
PQC CARDR uses CRYSTALS-Dilithium, a next-generation digital signature algorithm selected as a potential standard technology by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in July this year. PQC CARDR was developed in collaboration with ISARA Corporation, a company with cutting-edge post-quantum cryptography technologies.
Toppan and the NICT will take advantage of this technology to advance development of quantum secure cloud technology that enables the secure communication, storage, and use of highly sensitive information. Going beyond smart card security, the two organizations will also target the establishment of safe and secure social infrastructure based on the creation of fundamental technologies that ensure security for day-to-day internet-based activities, including email, online shopping, cashless transactions, and online banking.
Part of the research was supported by two Japanese government programs: the Cabinet Office’s Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) “Photonics and Quantum Technology for Society 5.0” and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ Research and Development for Construction of a Global Quantum Cryptography Network (JPMI00316).

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Sep.2, 2022
(Japanese version released on Sep.1,2022)

New Method to Systematically Find Optimal Quantum Operation Sequences for Quantum Computers Developed

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.), Keio University (President: ITOH Kohei, Ph.D.), Tokyo University of Science (President: Dr. ISHIKAWA Masatoshi), The University of Tokyo (President: Dr. FUJII Teruo), succeeded for the first time in developing a method for systematically finding the optimal quantum operation sequence for a quantum computer.
In order for a quantum computer to perform a task, we need to write a sequence of quantum operations. Until now, computer operators have written their own quantum operation sequences based on existing methods (recipes). What we have developed this time is a systematic method that applies optimal control theory (GRAPE algorithm) to identify the theoretically optimal sequence from among all conceivable quantum operation sequences.
This method is expected to become a useful tool for medium-scale quantum computers and is expected to contribute to improving the performance of quantum computers and reducing environmental impact in the near future. This result was published in the American scientific journal "Physical Review A" on August 23, 2022.

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Feb.18, 2022
(Japanese version released on Jan.14,2022)

Successful Joint Verification Test for Low Latency Transmission of Highly Confidential Data Using Quantum Cryptography for Large-volume Financial Transaction Data

TOKYO-Nomura Holdings, Inc. (President and Group CEO, Kentaro Okuda, hereinafter Nomura HD), Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (Representative Director and President, Kentaro Okuda, hereinafter Nomura Securities), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (President, Hideyuki Tokuda, Ph.D., hereinafter NICT), Toshiba Corporation (Representative Executive Officer and President and Chief Executive Officer, Satoshi Tsunakawa, hereinafter Toshiba), and NEC Corporation (President and CEO, Takayuki Morita, hereinafter NEC) have jointly verified the effectiveness and practicality of quantum cryptography for future social implementation using stock trading operations as a use case, where high-speed, large-volume, low-latency data transmission is strictly required. The test which started in December 2020 is the first in Japan to verify the low-latency and large-volume transmission tolerance of highly secure data transmission conforming to the message transmission format (FIX format), which is a standard format used in actual stock trading operations. As a result, in our assumed use case, we were able to confirm the following two points: (i) the throughput is maintained at a level of a conventional system, even if quantum cryptography is applied, and (ii) even if a large number of stock orders are placed, highly secure and high-speed quantum cryptographic communication can be realized without depleting cryptographic keys. The success of this test is expected to accelerate the social implementation of quantum cryptography, including a broad range of sectors other than finance.
The test was conducted as part of the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) "Photonics and Quantum Technology for Society 5.0" (Funding Agency: National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology) led by the Cabinet Office.

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Oct.7,2021
(Japanese version released on Aug. 26, 2021)

Toshiba, ToMMo, Tohoku University Hospital, and NICT Demonstrate the Use of Quantum Cryptography Communication and Secret Sharing Technologies for Distributed Storage of Genome Analysis Data

-Contributing to safe data management in the fields of genomic research and medicine-

Toshiba Corporation, Tohoku University Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization (ToMMo), Tohoku University Hospital, and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) have developed a distributed storage technology that combines quantum cryptography communication and secret sharing technologies, successfully demonstrating the world’s first experimental large-scale1 genome analysis data backup to multiple sites2. These technologies will allow data backup that prevents data leaks and tampering over long periods and are expected to contribute to safe data management in the fields of genomic research and medicine.
A part of this work was performed for Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI), Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP), “Photonics and Quantum Technology for Society 5.0” (Funding agency: QST). Toshiba, ToMMo, Tohoku University Hospital, and NICT will present the details of these technologies and their experimental demonstration at the 11th International Conference on Quantum Cryptography (QCrypt 2021).

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Sep.20,2021

All-nitride Superconducting Qubit Made on a Silicon Substrate

- New material platform for large-scale integration of superconducting qubits -

Researchers at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.), in collaboration with researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST, President: Dr. ISHIMURA Kazuhiko) and the Tokai National Higher Education and Research System Nagoya University (President: Dr. MATSUO Seiichi) have succeeded in developing an all-nitride superconducting qubit using epitaxial growth on a silicon substrate that does not use aluminum as the conductive material. This qubit uses niobium nitride (NbN) with a superconducting transition temperature of 16 K (-257 °C) as the electrode material, and aluminum nitride (AlN) for the insulating layer of the Josephson junction. It is a new type of qubit made of all-nitride materials grown epitaxially on a silicon substrate and free of any amorphous oxides, which are a major noise source. By realizing this new material qubit on a silicon substrate, long coherence times have been obtained: an energy relaxation time (T1) of 16 microseconds and a phase relaxation time (T2) of 22 microseconds as the mean values. This is about 32 times T1 and about 44 times T2 of nitride superconducting qubits grown on a conventional magnesium oxide substrate. By using niobium nitride as a superconductor, it is possible to construct a superconducting quantum circuit that operates more stably, and it is expected to contribute to the development of quantum computers and quantum nodes as basic elements of quantum computation. We will continue to work on optimizing the circuit structure and fabrication process, and we will proceed with research and development to further extend the coherence time and realize large-scale integration. These results were published in the British scientific journal "Communications Materials" on September 20, 2021 at 18:00 (Japan standard time). ・・・read more

Aug.11,2021
(Japanese version released on Aug.5,2021)

Neural Correlate of Pavlovian Conditioning

-Hijacking the command neuron governs Pavlovian conditioning-

The group lead by Executive Researcher, YOSHIHARA Motojiro, and Senior Researcher, SAKURAI Akira, at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Kobe (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.) unraveled a neural correlate of Pavlovian conditioning. The feeding command neuron, which was discovered by the same group in the brain of fruit flies (Nature, 2013)1, was found to be hijacked by an originally-independent stimulus, leading to the conditioned response. Furthermore, the experimental system of Pavlovian conditioning made possible real-time observation of cell-cell connection for memory formation.
These results were published in Current Biology at 11 AM on August 4 (US Eastern Standard Time) in 2021. ・・・read more

Jan.18,2021
(Japanese version released on Dec.21,2020)

Beginning Joint Verification Tests on Quantum Cryptography Technology to Enhance Cybersecurity in the Financial Sector

-Testing practicality in large-capacity and low-latency communications in stock transactions-

TOKYO?Nomura Holdings, Inc. (Representative Executive Officer and President, Kentaro Okuda, hereinafter “Nomura HD”), Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (Representative Director and President, Toshio Morita, hereinafter “Nomura Securities”), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (President, Hideyuki Tokuda, Ph.D. hereinafter “NICT”), Toshiba Corporation (Representative Executive Officer and President and CEO, Nobuaki Kurumatani), and NEC Corporation (President and CEO, Takashi Niino, hereinafter “NEC”) will jointly verify the effectiveness and practicality of quantum cryptography technology in order to strengthen the security of data communications and storage in the financial sector. The tests will commence in December 2020. ・・・read more

Nov.20,2020
(Japanese version released on Oct.22,2020)

NEC, NICT and ZenmuTech use quantum cryptography to encrypt, transmit and backup electronic medical records

-Achieving secure and real-time cross-references between medical institutions-

Tokyo, October 22, 2020 - NEC Corporation (NEC), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and ZenmuTech, Inc have succeeded in demonstrating a system that uses quantum cryptography to encrypt and securely transmit dummy electronic medical records compatible with SS-MIX standardized storage and to back the data up with a secret sharing technology over a wide area network. In addition, the cross-referencing of dummy data between this system and Kochi Health Sciences Center has also been demonstrated. ・・・read more

Oct.19,2020

Toppan, NICT, QunaSys, and ISARA Launch Collaboration to EstablishQuantum Secure Cloud Technology

Secure communication, storage, and use of data enabled by quantum computing and quantum cryptography technologies

Tokyo — October 19, 2020 — Toppan Printing (Toppan) (TSE:7911), the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), QunaSys Corporation (QunaSys), and ISARA Corporation (ISARA) have announced the launch of a collaboration targeting the establishment of quantum secure cloud technology that will enable advanced information processing and secure communication, storage, and use of data.・・・read more

Sep.16,2020

Development of High-sensitivity, Wide-IF Band Heterodyne Receiver in Terahertz Frequency Range

-Realized by NICT's original superconducting device structure using magnetic materials-

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.) has developed a unique superconducting hot electron bolometer mixer (HEBM) using magnetic materials. As a result, the noise of the 2 THz band heterodyne receiver has been reduced and the wide IF band has been achieved. The 2 THz band HEBM produced this time has a low noise performance of about 570 K (DSB), which is about 6 times the quantum noise limit, and a wide IF band characteristic of about 6.9 GHz, which is about 3 GHz larger than the conventional structure HEBM. Both of these are world-class performance.・・・read more