## RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

Toshiba is concentrating efforts on technological development that will provide the platform for the impending digital mobile networking era. Our Corporate R&D Center works to improve development speed and efficiency by actively engaging in Management Innovation (MI). From the fiscal year under review, we aim to shorten product development times through Time to Market No.1 (TM1) activities. 

## Delivering High-Speed Web Site Access 

Improved speed is always a must-have re- quirement of Internet users. Toshiba offers an original solution to this demand by caching Web page content and minimizing data trans- fer volumes. Using standard hardware and software, this method boosts response speeds and cuts communication costs by reducing transmitted data volumes by as much as 90% and increasing transfer rates by up to 60%. 

The heart of this new technology is a power- ful cache function that works alongside a system for monitoring and handling changes in the dy- namic content of Web pages, such as those for receiving orders or delivering estimates. 

Previously, the cache function could save and provide high-speed delivery only of those parts of a Web site that were static. Toshiba’s difference management function overcomes the problem by fine-grained management of difference information of Web sites. When a particular site is accessed, only the updated parts of the page are transmitted to the PC, where they are combined with the content of the cache. The result is rapid download and display, including high-speed transmission and a reduced delay in displaying dynamic content. 

One example of where this new technology can make a difference is at a company that has made the switch to a Web-based business sys- tem, but that tries to reduce communication costs by using low-speed private-network con- nections to link its head office with sales offices. With Toshiba’s high-speed system, traffic is re- duced, while system responsiveness and data delivery are enhanced. This technology can end the need to invest in high-speed networks, allow for lower operating costs and improve the per- formance of Web-based systems. 

## Financial Simulation Technology 

Applying know-how accumulated in nuclear energy and other areas of power systems tech- nology to other fields is allowing Toshiba to propose new solutions and to maximize over- all strengths and capabilities. One advance that brings this home is development of the Financial Boltzmann Model, a financial mod- el derived from simulations of the behavior of neutrons inside nuclear reactors. 

The Boltzmann equation describes particle transport phenomena and is an essential aspect of nuclear reactor theory. Toshiba’s Financial Boltzmann Model applies it to track stock prices, altering the global standard financial simulation model developed in the U.S. The new model demonstrates the ability to accu- rately track complicated structures that accompany the price movements of stocks, and by doing so it lowers financial risks for securi- ties houses and investors alike. At present, the model has been applied to reproducing the characteristics of the Nikkei 225 option market prices, and is expected to contribute to reduc- tion of the large risks that are option-specific. 

The Financial Boltzmann Model is the world’s first simulation model to apply the nuclear reactor theory to financial fields. Re- sults so far indicate that its application will not be limited to stocks. 

