Cisco Systems plans to set up a research and development center in Tokyo, focusing on Internet software and routing technologies, a move that follows a growing number of major companies seeking R&D abroad.The opening of the center in Japan, set for February 2005, comes after Cisco won several major contracts for its software and equipment based on the CRS-1 system from Japanese customers, IDG News Service said. The company will initially invest $12 million over five years in the center, which will employ 10 engineers working on development of the company’s Internetwork Operating System (IOS) and IOS XR software, routers, IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6), and wireless technologies. IOS is the software made by Cisco that supports Cisco-built networks. IOS XR is a newer version that supports the company’s recently developed Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1), IDG News Service said. This a system of routers and other equipment that push data along networks and the Internet.Companies are increasingly turning their gaze abroad. In November, Intel said it would invest $40 million to expand its development center in Bangalore, India, and earlier this monrth Microsoft said it would open its own lab in Bangalore, one of several it has worldwide, including operations in Cambridge, England, and in Beijing. Technology Industry