• May, 2002 - June, 2003

Debut of T-Engine Board Incorporating TX4956

Toshiba Information Systems Corporation and Toshiba Corporation have developed a standardized T-Engine board (t101) incorporating TX4956 (a RISC CPU), and will exhibit its sample at the 6th Embedded Systems Expo & Conference in Tokyo (ESEC). Toshiba will release the product in the 3rd quarter of 2003.

Debut of μT-Engine Board Incorporating FR-V Processor

Yokogawa Digital Computer Corporation and Fujitsu Limited have developed a μT-Engine board incorporating Fujitsu's FR400 processor (MB93403), which features high processing power and low power consumption.
(http://www.ydc.co.jp/emb/product/T-EngineBoard.html)

"KASAGO for T-Engine," a TCP/IP Protocol Stack

Elmic Systems Inc. has offered "KASAGO for T-Engine," a communications software package for embedded systems. This package is the middleware that supports Internet connection by means of high-performance/high-reliability TCP/IP and IPv6, which have been designed, developed and refined for embedded devices.
(http://www.elmic.co.jp/japanese/products/kasago_tengine.html)

Standardized ID Tags Certified

The Ubiquitous ID Center certified three standardized ID tags before its Ubiquitous ID demonstration test begins. These three are "Mu-Chip" developed by Hitachi, Ltd., "T-Junction" by Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. and "eTRON/16-AE45X" by YRP Ubiquitos Networking Lab., Sakamura Lab., University of Tokyo, and Renesas Technology Corp., Ltd., respectively.
(http://www.uidcenter.org/press/)

Food Traceability Demonstration Test to Start

The Ubiquitous ID Center announced that it would start in summer of 2003 the Food Traceability Demonstration Test, a demonstration test of Ubiquitous ID using perishable foods, in collaboration with Yokosuka Research Park (YRP), Yokosuka/Hayama Agricultural Cooperative, Keikyu Store Co. Ltd., and the University of Tokyo.
(http://www.uidcenter.org/press/)

Enhancement of Industry-Government-Academia Partnerships

The Ubiquitous ID Center announced its intention to enhance the industry-government-academia partnerships among the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, the University of Tokyo and other organizations, through research and development activities in ubiquitous ID technology including ID tags and of making efforts to lead the world in ubiquitous computing.
(http://www.uidcenter.org/press/)

Chairman Sakamura to speak at Mainichi IT Forum

On June 5, 2003, Chairman Sakamura will be a guest speaker at the Mainichi IT Forum: "The Ubiquitous Network Will Change Society," which will be conducted at Mainichi Oval Hall in Osaka. Admission is free.
(http://www.ogc.ne.jp/it_forum/)

Chairman Sakamura to Speak at the e-Government Forum

On May 28, 2003, Chairman Sakamura will give a special presentation at the e-goveForum: "Japan’s Information Strategy in the Future" (sponsors: Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications; Mie Prefecture, etc.), which will be conducted at the Mie Center for the Arts. Admission is free.
(http://www.pref.mie.jp/johos/moyooshi/forum/index.htm)

Mobile Terminal for Receiving Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting

KDDI R&D Laboratories Inc., jointly with NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories, have developed a mobile terminal on a trial basis that combines the services of data broadcasting and mobile phones. (Digital data broadcasting is scheduled to be carried out with digital terrestrial broadcasting) The trial model can verify its functions in an environment closely resembling the actual situation. For this development, the T-engine board with SH-4 CPU is used, and the same board is built into the trial terminal without modification.
(http://www.kddi.com/corporate/news_release/2003/0519/index.html)

T-Engine and µT-Engine are released one after another.

As to standard T-engine and µT-Engine boards, boards to suit various CPUs, such as SH3-DSP, M32R, MIPS, and ARM7, have already been provided, and further, release of boards for ARM9, FR-V, SH4, and MIPS4 has been announced, and boards for most of the CPUs used for embedding will be lined up within the year.

Publication of a separate volume: TRONWARE "T-Engine"

Personal Media Corporation has published a TRONWARE separate volume: "T-Engine." This volume was made by compiling and recomposing the articles related to T-Engine that were presented in "TRONWARE," an information magazine related to the TRON Project. This book covers a wide range, including an outline of T-Engine and the latest information on boards and others. The book costs 1,600 yen, and it is available at bookstores nationwide.
(http://www.personal-media.co.jp/book/tw/tw_index/205_6_c.html)

Chairman Sakamura of the T-Engine Forum, spoke on Ubiquitous Computing in Korea.

The foundation seminar of the U-korea Forum was conducted on April 15, in the COEX international conference hall, in Kangnam, Korea. The U-korea Forum is a gethering that was started to promote ubiquitous computing in Korea. Ken Sakamura, chairman of the T-Engine Forum, was invited to this forum, and he gave a special presentation as the only foreign lecturer. Over 1,200 persons attended the seminar, indicating that IT-related people in Korea are greatly interested in this field.

The Ubiquitous ID Forum Was Very Successful.

The "Ubiquitous ID Forum," sponsored by the Ubiquitous ID Center, was conducted on April 8, at the Tokyo Conference Center. In this Forum, whose theme was "Realization of a Ubiquitous Society Using IC Tags," ubiquitous ID was explained, and a panel discussion considered the respective viewpoints of users, technology development, and system integration. The site attracted many attendants, and the Forum was very successful, with the content indicating a bright outlook for ubiquitous ID.
(http://itpro.nikkeibp.co.jp/as/ubi/)

Establishment of the Ubiquitous ID Center

The Ubiquitous ID Center was established, aiming to establish and spread core automatic recognition technology, and realize a ubiquitous computing environment. The Ubiquitous ID Center, established within the T-Engine Forum, conducts such activities as construction of the Ubiquitous ID system, and establishment of core technology to achieve it.
(http://www.uidcenter.org/)

Visitation by Kevin Ashton

Kevin Ashton (Executive Director and Cofounder) at the Auto ID Center, which has its headquarters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), visited the T-Engine Forum (Ubiquitous ID Center), and talked with Chairman Sakamura. Media reported competition between the Auto ID Center and the Ubiquitous ID Center, but they actually have mutual cooperative relations.