McLaren-Honda Taps NTT Communications for 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix

McLaren-Honda, a pioneering leader in Formula 1 motor racing for over 50 years, and NTT Communications, the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT Group has announced that NTT Communications' software-defined-everything (SDx) technologies will be incorporated for the first time in a track-side network connecting the Suzuka Circuit in Japan and the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, UK during the 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.

By adopting NTT Communications' SDx technologies, McLaren-Honda plans to implement a series of tests during the Japanese Grand Prix to strengthen its remote management of race strategy using telemetry data provided at extra high speed.

NTT Communications' secure ICT infrastructure is expected to control network bandwidth flexibly and efficiently in testing the speed and quality of the new software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN)'s greatly increased bandwidth. Data will also be transmitted between Japan and the UK via an existing MPLS circuit.

Features of New SDx Technologies

•Flexible network leveraging SD-WAN
The SD-WAN will offer expanded bandwidth and highly efficient data transmission in response to data priority by combining the existing MPLS circuit and NTT Communications' complementary circuits, including internet, constructed at the circuit. The solution is expected to shift traffic from internet circuits in the garage, engineers' workplace, and guest Wi-Fi to these complementary circuits alongside the existing MPLS network. Large-capacity, high-resolution, video conferencing will be distributed over the NTT SD-WAN to enable the all-important collaboration between engineers working trackside and other global locations.
•WAN acceleration and UTM achieved with NFV infrastructure
Network functions virtualization (NFV) infrastructure will be leveraged in the cloud to rapidly deploy both WAN acceleration for data transmission without latency and a unified threat management (UTM) Web proxy function for guaranteed network security.
•SD-Exchange leveraged for high-speed connection between Japan and UK
NTT Com's SD-Exchange service will enable high-volume data to be transmitted much faster than with a normal internet connection because the data will be routed from Japan to the UK through NTT Communications' global high-bandwidth infrastructure.

Matt Lockie, IT Director for Racing, McLaren Technology Group said, “In the highly competitive world of Formula One, our ability to partner with NTT Communications to utilize state of the art SD-WAN technology really helps to give us an advantage over the competition. I am proud of the way our teams have worked together in delivering such innovative network technology to meet the challenging requirements of fast data delivery to our engineers trackside and back at base in Mission Control".

Tatsuya Yamashita, Senior Vice President, Technology Development /Vice President, Next Generation Platform Taskforce, commented “McLaren Honda is the remarkably advanced technological team among the Formula 1. It will be a great advantage for NTT Com to jointly conduct development as a technology partner to meet highly technological demand. I am excited that we can deploy our advanced technologies of SD-WAN and NFV to the race site at Formula 1 team earlier than other providers."

Dr. Shin Miyakawa, Vice President, IoT Office / McLaren Taskforce said, “Formula 1 racing leverages world-class technologies to transmit in-race data from global race sites to often faraway team headquarters for crucial strategizing. NTT Com, as a team sponsor and technical partner of McLaren-Honda, will incorporate cutting-edge SDx technologies to build a mission-critical trackside network that fully utilized world-class transmitting technologies."

Following deployment of this solution for the 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, McLaren-Honda and NTT Communications plan to further test and enhance large-capacity data transmission security, speed and efficiency, with an eye on deployment for future races. By transforming the way they collect and leverage racing data, NTT Communications and McLaren-Honda expect to transcend current Formula 1 methodologies. Further details about this initiative will be introduced at NTT Communications Forum 2017 in Tokyo on October 5 and 6.

NTT Communications, beginning from this year's racing season, is also providing McLaren-Honda with its Arcstar Universal One enterprise VPN network service to deliver fast and flexible communication to the company's 16 global offices.

Data is shared widely in real-time, including at track and the team's headquarters in a coordinated effort to plan and implement real-time racing strategies faster than the competition. In-race transmissions can reach as much as 100GB of data — covering race-site weather, engine speeds, brake pressures, fuel levels, tire air pressure, on-board video, and more — this data is collected from 200 sensors and cameras embedded in a race car.