Press Releases

Kawasaki, Japan, Feb 10, 2010 - (ACN Newswire) - Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. and the University of Toronto today announced their joint development of a new processing method for transceiver chips used in gigabit-class(1) high-speed data transmission over wirelines. The new technology employs digital circuitry to replace previously-required structures that used analog circuits. While analog processing require circuits that are adapted to the specifications of a signal being transmitted, such as transmission distance and amplitude, this new digital approach can perform these optimizations automatically, so that a single circuit could be used to accommodate a wide range of various wireline communications. Compared to conventional processing methods, this new digital-processing method makes it possible to shorten development periods by approximately half. It is anticipated that this new technology in the future could be applied to a variety of wireline communication applications, including 10 Gbps high-speed Ethernet in datacenters.

Details of this technology were presented at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2010 (ISSCC 2010) being held in San Francisco from February 7-11. (Presentation number: 8.7)

Background and Technological Challenges

File size data volumes for large photographic, audio, and video files are becoming increasingly larger, thus requiring a significant amount of bandwidth to transmit, leading to demand for ever-faster wireline data communications. Conventional transceiver chips rely on analog circuitry which needs to be optimized to accommodate specifications of the signal being transmitted - such as transmission distance and amplitude - and therefore require multiple transceiver chips to be designed in order to accommodate for various applications.

With a growing diversity of devices featuring high-speed data transmission, the need to optimize an existing technology for every new type of device or model has become a bottleneck in the development process. Efforts to develop transceiver chips within short development periods that can accommodate the wide range of different devices have been proven challenging.

Newly-developed Technology

Fujitsu Laboratories and the University of Toronto have developed a digital circuit-based transceiver chip. Featuring digital circuitry, the new transceiver chip can automatically optimize itself for a variety of high-speed communications circuits, thus significantly reducing development periods by approximately half compared with conventional methods.

This technology detects variations in the delay on the time axis of the input signal, caused during data transmission, and based on that can automatically adjust the timing it uses for judging whether an incoming signal is a 0 or 1 (Figure 1). Since variations in data transmissions increase along with faster transmission speeds, this new technology is essential for accurate data exchange. This is the world's first technology to achieve Gbps-class speeds without the use of analog circuitry elements, while offering fully-digital timing adjustments for signal-determination.

Results

As a world's first, by using digital circuitry-based high-speed transceiver technology, Fujitsu Laboratories and the University of Toronto's new technology makes it possible to reduce the design and development period for a gigabit-class transceiver chip by approximately one-half (1/2) compared with conventional methods. This suggests that transceiver chips for a wide range of communications devices could be offered in a timely manner.

Future Developments

Fujitsu Laboratories and the University of Toronto will continue with development of this technology to optimize the digital signal processing, to further reduce the transceiver's power consumption.

Glossary and Notes

1 Gigabit-class/Gigabits-per-second (Gbps):Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) expresses data rate and indicates how many gigabits can be transferred per second. 10 Gbps is 10 billion bits-per-second (10 billion bps) = 10,000 megabits-per-second (10,000 Mbps), and indicates that 10 billion bits of data can be transferred per second.

About University of Toronto

Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is Canada's largest university, recognized as a global leader in research and teaching. U of T's distinguished faculty, institutional record of groundbreaking scholarship and wealth of innovative academic opportunities continually attract outstanding students and academics from around the world. U of T is committed to providing a learning experience that benefits from both a scale almost unparalleled in North America and from the close-knit learning communities made possible through its college system and academic divisions. Located in and around Toronto, one of the world's most diverse regions, U of T's vibrant academic life is defined by a unique degree of cultural diversity in its learning community. The University is sustained environmentally by three green campuses, where renowned heritage buildings stand beside award-winning innovations in architectural design.

For more information: http://www.utoronto.ca/

About Fujitsu Ltd

Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 160,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.6 trillion yen (US$47 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009. For more information, please visit www.fujitsu.com.

Contact: Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.
Design Solutions Lab.
Platform Technologies Lab.
Tel: +81-44-754-2635
E-mail:hsio_adc_pr@ml.labs.fujitsu.com

University of Toronto
Prof. Ali Sheikholeslami
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Tel: +1(416)978-1681
E-mail:ali@eecg.utoronto.ca
Address: 10 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4

Copyright 2010 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved.

Kawasaki, Japan, Feb 10, 2010 - (ACN Newswire) - Fujitsu Laboratories Limited and the University of Toronto today announced that they have jointly developed the world's first high-reliability read-method for use with spin-torque-transfer (STT) MRAM(1) that is insusceptible to erroneous writes. STT MRAM is regarded as a potential future form of non-volatile memory(2) that could be used as an alternative to flash memory. NOR flash memory that is embedded in microcontrollers widely used in mobile phones and other electronic devices is expected to reach the limits of its feasible miniaturization in the near future, which has led to the search for an alternative low-power non-volatile memory that will allow continued necessary miniaturization. By resolving one of the major obstacles to using STT MRAM, Fujitsu and the University of Toronto's new read-method marks a major step towards the practical implementation of STT MRAM as a necessary replacement for flash memory, in view of future requirements that will be necessary for compact and low-power electronic devices.

Details of this technology were presented at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2010 (ISSCC 2010) being held in San Francisco from February 7-11. (Presentation number: 14.1)

Background

Many electronic devices such as mobile phones or PDAs use microcontrollers with embedded flash memory, which allows onboard software to be rewritten. However, NOR flash memory used in such microcontrollers is nearing the physical limits of its miniaturization, which has led to research on various types of memory that could replace NOR flash memory.

STT MRAM, which uses magnetic materials as the memory storage element, is gaining attention as an emerging potential candidate to replace flash memory, as STT MRAM meets the needs for speed, low power consumption, and miniaturization that would make it a good candidate to replace flash memory.

Technological Challenges

STT MRAM uses memory storage elements that take advantage of the effect in which a current that is passed through a magnetic material - such as a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)(3) - reverses its direction of magnetization (Figure 1). Passing a current through the MTJ causes its direction of magnetization to switch between a parallel or anti-parallel state, which has the effect of switching between low resistance and high resistance. Because this can be used to represent the 1s and 0s of digital information, STT MRAM can be used as a non-volatile memory.

Reading STT MRAM involves applying a voltage to the MTJ to discover whether the MTJ offers high resistance to current ("1") or low ("0"). However, a relatively high voltage needs to be applied to the MTJ to correctly determine whether its resistance is high or low, and the current passed at this voltage leaves little difference between the read-current and the write-current. Any fluctuation in the electrical characteristics of individual MTJs could cause what was intended as a read-current, to have the effect of a write-current, thus reversing the direction of magnetization of the MTJ.

Newly-developed Technology

In a joint collaboration, Fujitsu Laboratories and the University of Toronto have developed an innovative circuit design (Figure 3) that for the first time resolves the issue of erroneous writes in STT MRAM during read operations.

The newly developed read-method uses a negative resistance(4) that is intermediate between the MTJ's high resistance and low resistance on a parallel circuit (Figure 4). If the MTJ is in a high-resistance state, this circuit exhibits negative-resistance characteristics. If the MTJ is in a low-resistance state, then it exhibits normal-resistance characteristics. These characteristics allow the resistance value to be read at lower voltages than before, suppressing the tendency of the read operation to reverse the direction of magnetization and avoiding the problem of erroneous write operations.

Results

The development of this new read circuit with negative resistance has resulted in STT MRAM that is insusceptible to erroneous writes caused by fluctuations in the electrical characteristics of the MTJs. It is anticipated that the STT MRAM used as miniaturized non-volatile memory would enable greater high-performance in mobile phones and other electronic devices.

Future Developments

Fujitsu Laboratories and the University of Toronto plan to continue with R&D related to STT MRAM to strive toward practical implementation, such as lowering write currents and developing process technologies for further miniaturization.

Glossary and Notes

1 Spin- Torque-Transfer MRAM:Spin-torque-transfer magnetoresistive (STT) random access memory. MRAM that uses the "spin-torque-transfer" effect to reverse the direction of magnetization of an element by passing current through it.

2 Non-volatile memory:Memory that persists even when electrical power is cut.

3 Magnetic tunnel junction (MJT):A tunnel junction that uses the magnetoresistive effect. Consists of a recording layer made of ferromagnetic material, an insulating film a few atoms thick, and a layer made of ferromagnetic material that will not change its direction of magnetization in the presence of a current.

4 Negative resistance:An element that has negative resistance value, in which its current decreases when voltage rises.

About University of Toronto

Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is Canada's largest university, recognized as a global leader in research and teaching. U of T's distinguished faculty, institutional record of groundbreaking scholarship and wealth of innovative academic opportunities continually attract outstanding students and academics from around the world. U of T is committed to providing a learning experience that benefits from both a scale almost unparalleled in North America and from the close-knit learning communities made possible through its college system and academic divisions. Located in and around Toronto, one of the world's most diverse regions, U of T's vibrant academic life is defined by a unique degree of cultural diversity in its learning community. The University is sustained environmentally by three green campuses, where renowned heritage buildings stand beside award-winning innovations in architectural design.

For more information: http://www.utoronto.ca/

About Fujitsu Ltd

Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 160,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.6 trillion yen (US$47 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009. For more information, please visit www.fujitsu.com.

Contact: Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.
Technology Integration Lab.
Platform Technologies Lab.
Tel: +81(46)250-8379
E-mail:til-si@ml.labs.fujitsu.com

University of Toronto
Prof. Ali Sheikholeslami
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Tel: +1(416)978-1681
E-mail:ali@eecg.utoronto.ca
Address: 10 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4 Canada

Copyright 2010 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved.

New service enables small businesses to increase email marketing engagement through audio slideshow messages

WALTHAM, Mass. & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Constant Contact(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: CTCT), a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing and online survey tools for small organizations and GoldMail, Inc., the leading provider of Audio + Visual Messaging for business communication, today announced their partnership to deliver enhanced email multimedia functionality. This free offering helps to bring Constant Contact email messages to life by including rich, audio-visual messages. The combination of GoldMail's voiceover slideshow messages, with award-winning email marketing solutions from Constant Contact, enables small businesses to increase their click-through rates and speak to their audience with greater impact.

"As people's exposure to multimedia interactive messages increases, many small businesses are looking for a partner that can help them deliver impactful multimedia email marketing campaigns to their customers and prospects," said Eric Groves, senior vice president, Global Market Development, Constant Contact. "This partnership will allow GoldMail and Constant Contact small business customers to add interactive slideshows easily to their Constant Contact emails and deliver richer email messages. A variety of small businesses will quickly realize that this solution can help increase readers' interest and attract new customers."

Goldmail's new offering affords users the option to send multimedia emails through three delivery options: through their Constant Contact account where they can also add a clickable image to any of Constant Contact's over 400 email templates, through their own email account with a picture link, or they can embed it anywhere on the web.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for both GoldMail and Constant Contact customers to complement their use of email marketing with engaging multimedia content for a richer experience," said Tom Hakel, CEO of GoldMail. "The powerful visual impact will make recipients take notice, and small businesses can use these multimedia-powered email marketing messages to help their communications stand out or be more memorable. This will go a long way to helping deepening the connections our customers can make through their online communications."

More information on the GoldMail offering is available at www.goldmail.com/constantcontact.

About GoldMail, Inc.

GoldMail, the leading provider of Audio + Visual Messaging for business communication, has created a messaging platform that is simple to use, personal and super-convenient for sender and recipient alike. Sending GoldMails saves time, money and the aggravation of over-contacting, yet under-connecting, a universal problem in business communication today. Visitors can explore the GoldMail Gallery to see how customers - from Fortune 500s to SMBs - are using this powerful, effective messaging service. GoldMail, www.goldmail.com, is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with presence in Boston, MA, Portland, OR and Cambridge, UK.

About Constant Contact, Inc.

With more than 350,000 customers, Constant Contact, Inc. is a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing, and online surveys for small businesses, non-profits, and member associations. Founded in 1995, Constant Contact helps small organizations grow stronger customer relationships by delivering professional, low cost, easy-to-use online tools backed with award-winning support, education and personal coaching. Constant Contact is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: CTCT) with offices located in Waltham, Mass., Loveland, Colo., and Delray, Fla. To learn more, please visit www.constantcontact.com or call 781-472-8100.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date they were first issued and were based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections, as well as the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as "expect," "anticipate," "should," "believe," "hope," "target," "project," "goals," "estimate," "potential," "predict," "may," "will," "might," "could," "intend," variations of these terms or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond Constant Contact's control. Constant Contact's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, the Company's ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers; the Company's dependence on the market for email marketing services for small businesses, nonprofits, and associations; general economic conditions and economic conditions specifically affecting the markets in which the Company operates; adverse regulatory or legal developments; the Company's ability to continue to promote and maintain its brand in a cost-effective manner; the Company's ability to compete effectively; the continued growth and acceptance of email as a communications tool; the Company's ability to develop and successfully introduce new products or enhancements to existing products; the Company's ability to manage growth; the Company's ability to attract and retain key personnel; the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property and other proprietary rights; and other risks detailed in Constant Contact's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 filed with the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") on November 6, 2009, as well as other documents that may be filed by the Company from time to time with the SEC, as well as other documents that may be filed by the Company from time to time with the SEC. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Constant Contact's views as of the date of this press release. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change. Constant Contact undertakes no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Constant Contact's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

    Source: Constant Contact, Inc.

Destinator GPS smartphone application will pioneer integration of mobile social networking services into turn-by-turn GPS navigation with GyPSii's Open API, OpenExperience(TM)

VANCOUVER & AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intrinsyc Software International, Inc. (TSX: ICS), a leading provider of software and navigation solutions for mobile devices, and GyPSii, the market-leading mobile digital lifestyle application and geo-mobility social media platform, today announced a partnership to integrate GyPSii's award-winning social media and contextual advertising/coupon functionality into the globally acclaimed Destinator navigation application for smartphones. The combination of the two heralds a first for the mobile navigation segment with the full integration of social media features into a mobile turn-by-turn navigation application.

"With social networks becoming so integrated in our lives, we felt that it was key to combine the GyPSii social media experience with turn-by-turn navigation. Destinator continues to drive differentiation through innovation, and we feel the integration of GyPSii into the navigation experience will enhance our customer's experience and generate additional demand for our application worldwide," said Tracy Rees, Chief Executive Officer, Intrinsyc. "With an established customer base and intuitive user experience, GyPSii is the ideal partner to bridge the Destinator application into the world of social networking services."

Using GyPSii's API, OpenExperience(TM), Intrinsyc plans to integrate GyPSii technologies into the next generation of Destinator smartphone applications due out later this year. GyPSii enhanced Destinator will allow users to connect with major social networking services with a single sign-on, providing an all-in-one channel to update friends on what they're doing and where. The integration will allow users to display contacts from other social networks while in map view - whether in-vehicle or on-foot. In addition, users will be able to directly route to any of their social networks contacts and seamlessly share information from their travels into their social networks.

"We are thrilled to extend the GyPSii OpenExperience API to Intrinsyc and Destinator, a trusted brand and leader in the navigation business," said Dan Harple, Founder and Executive Chairman of GyPSii. "Intrinsyc's choice to build their app with our Open API, Open Experience(TM), aligns with the widespread adoption of OpenExperience(TM) across major OEMs and carriers. The combination delivers an app that truly connects your online social media experience with the Intrinsyc Destinator."

The Destinator application is available currently on the Android Market and Windows Mobile Marketplace and through the Destinator NavStore (www.DestinatorNavStore.com), and is planned for release on the Apple App Store in the coming weeks.

GyPSii will showcase its market-leading GyPSii mobile digital lifestyle application and its Open API solution for partners on Stand 7B68, Hall 7 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week (Feb15-18).

-END-

About Intrinsyc Software International, Inc.

Intrinsyc empowers device makers, mobile operators, and silicon vendors to deliver compelling, next generation mobile devices faster with higher quality, and differentiating innovation. We help our customers deliver compelling products using our unmatched expertise with the leading OS platforms including Android, Apple, Blackberry, Linux, Symbian, Windows CE and Windows Mobile. Intrinsyc delivers Destinator, the most feature rich navigation application with the best integration for leading smartphones, including from OEMs like Motorola and LG Electronics. Destinator is also available through leading application stores and Intrinsyc's own navigation store www.destinatornavstore.com . Intrinsyc is publicly traded (TSX: ICS) and headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with offices in China, Israel, Taiwan, U.K. and the United States. www.intrinsyc.com

About GeoSentric (GyPSii)

GyPSii is the market-leading mobile digital lifestyle application, providing an integrated social media and contextual advertising platform. GyPSii connects people, places, communities, content and advertising across networks and devices, with patented and patent applied-for technologies for the transfer and publishing of location based information between mobile devices. GyPSii provides apps and Open API solutions to a wide range of companies, such as Samsung, LG, RIM, Wind River, Garmin, China Unicom, China Mobile, China Telecom, and others. GyPSii apps are available on Apple's iPhone, Symbian, Windows Mobile, RIM Blackberry, Android, Java, MID/Linux, Palm webOS, and accessible via most well-known mobile app stores Based in Salo, Finland and Amsterdam, The Netherlands, GeoSentric operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. GeoSentric is listed on the Nordic Exchange (NASDAQ OMX: GEO1V)). For more information, visit www.gypsii.com (C) 2010 GeoSentric. All rights reserved.

The GyPSii related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of GeoSentric and/or its business units. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.

    Source: GyPSii