Based on a fundamental policy that seeks to continually develop creative technologies, the Hitachi Cable Group carries out proactive research and development activities, ranging from the development of new materials and new products to the development of production technologies. In addition to establishing the office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), the Corporate Advanced Technology Group supervises the Technology Planning Center, which oversees the formulation and monitoring of R&D strategies, and the Research & Development Laboratory, which supervises R&D activities and implementation. In this way, the Hitachi Cable Group leads its competitors in promoting the development of new products and technologies and rapidly introducing these to market.
Specific R&D activities are promoted chiefly by the Research & Development Laboratory, which encompasses the Technology Platform Center and Electronics Research & Development Center and the design and development sections of each operational business groups.
In addition to maintaining close cooperative ties to R&D organizations within the Hitachi Group, including those belonging to Hitachi, Ltd., the Hitachi Cable Group effectively advances R&D on advanced technologies by promoting joint research with client and government R&D organizations where appropriate and through other avenues.
Summarized below are R&D activities and results for each business segment of the Hitachi Cable Group during this consolidated fiscal year. R&D expenses during this half of the consolidated fiscal year totaled 5,242 million yen.
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1. Wires and Cables |
In this segment, R&D efforts focus on the area of industrial wires and cables and on transmission and connection technologies related to electronic devices. Primary results achieved during this half of the consolidated fiscal year include those outlined below. R&D expenses in this segment totaled 854 million yen.
- Development of micro cables for use in new railway signaling systems
- Development of cable reel systems for cold-ironing use
- Development of cabtire cables for use in wind power generation
- Establishment of technologies for mass production of high-foamed polyethylene cables for semiconductor-tester use
- Development of halogen-free flame-retardant electronic wires for UL 125℃-rated devices
- Development of drop optical fiber cables
- Development of multi-specification compatible PVC materials for MTW(Multi Tool Wire )use
- Improving the flame retardancy of PVC and flame-retardant polyethylene wires
- EMC evaluation technologies for micro coaxial cables with connectors
- Development of FFCs using thermoplastic adhesives for vehicle use
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2. Information and Telecommunications Networking |
R&D efforts in this segment have focused on information and telecommunications cables, including fiber-optic cables, on sensors, on various devices needed for the development of Internet and mobile-phone systems, on components, and on devices such as networking equipment and mobile-phone base-station antennas. Primary results achieved during this half of the consolidated fiscal year include those outlined below. R&D expenses in this segment totaled 2,030 million yen.
- Development of line cards (10 Gbit/s × 2 ports and 1 Gbit/s × 20 ports) for use in chassis-type switching equipment for telecommunications carriers, with Ethernet OAM and extended QoS features
- Development of box-type switching equipment (1 Gbit/s × 2 ports + 100 Gbit/s × 48 ports) with VLAN multiplexing capabilities, and VLAN translation equipment (100 Gbit/s × 48 ports), for telecommunications carriers
- Expansion of the ring protocol used in box-type switching equipment for enterprises
- Prototype manufacturing of 10 Gbit/s class next-generation fiber-optic transceivers SFP+*
* SFP stands for Small Form-factor Pluggable Plus.
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3. Sophisticated Materials |
R&D activities in this segment can be broken down into the following three main areas. R&D expenses in this segment totaled 2,358 million yen.
A. Semiconductor Packaging Materials and Electronic Components
R&D efforts in this area have focused on high-precision machining and adhesion technologies as well as metal-plating technologies for TAB tape and circuit boards to reduce dimensions and to improve the functionality of information-technology devices such as mobile phones and to increase the precision of liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), and on compound semiconductors such as those made of gallium arsenide (from the growth of single crystals to the development of epitaxial wafer semiconductor devices) and products applying these technologies, as well as related products. Primary results achieved in this half of the consolidated fiscal year include those outlined below.
- Commercialization of rewritable two-wavelength LD epitaxial wafers
- Commercialization of orange-colored four-element LED epitaxial wafers with high brightness and uniformity
- Development of processes to achieve high reliability in ultrafine-pitch COF tape
- Development of mass-production technologies for filled-via copper plating of 2 metal TAB tape
B. Copper Products
R&D efforts in this area include efforts focused on R&D into products such as superconducting metal wiring and high-temperature oxide superconductors, including development of copper strips and other materials used in electronic components and heat-transfer tubes used in heat exchangers, as well as systems employing these technologies. Primary results achieved in this half of the consolidated fiscal year include those outlined below.
- Mass production of highly flexible rolled copper foils (OFC-HX)
- Mass production of rolled copper foils for use in electromagnetic shields
- Development of high-strength alloy strips with high levels of heat resistance
- Establishment of production technology of dualgauge copper strips for instllation in automobiles
- Mass production of products applying oxygen-free copper for use in FPDs
- Development of high-performance heat-transfer tubes for use in water heat exchangers
- Development of mass-production technology for lightweight, high-torsion TFIN (β ≥ 40 degrees)
* FPD stands for Flat Panel Display.
C. Auto Parts
R&D efforts in this field include those focusing on automotive hoses (e.g., brake and power-steering hoses), electronic components, and components for use in information equipment. The primary results achieved during this half of the consolidated fiscal year were achieved in the following area.
- Commercialization of dual-layer separation rollers for scanners
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