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.

HONG KONG -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/10/10 -- Catapult International, Inc., a leading edge software provider of international freight rating systems, has been endorsed by the China Logistics Club, a worldwide association of over 300 freight forwarders.

Members of the China Logistics Club will be able to upload their ocean and air rates into the Catapult QMS and make them available to other members. The rate sharing system enhances global cooperation by connecting partners wishing to work together.

"In the international shipping market, responsiveness to the customer is the key to winning business. The members of China Logistics Club will benefit from accessing Catapult's system and getting rates quickly and quoting those rates to their customers within seconds," noted Henrik Christensen, Chief Executive of China Logistics Club.

In April 2010, Catapult plans to roll out an international shipping B2B quoting portal so that businesses can get quotes instantly from the air and ocean rates of CLC members and other clients.

About China Logistics Club:

The China Logistics Club is an independent and private organization based in Hong Kong specifically set up for the Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) freight forwarders and logistics companies. Its aim is to assist its members with forging partnerships and conducting business in China as well as elsewhere.

About Catapult International:

With offices in Kansas City, San Francisco, Amsterdam and Fuzhou China, Catapult International provides technology solutions for international logistics companies worldwide. Its Catapult QMS™ application is among the best solutions for international air and ocean pricing, rating, and freight auditing. Catapult also specializes in file transfers and web services as a middleware provider of data. Catapult is one of the fastest growing technology companies in the transportation sector.

Web sites:

http://www.chinalogisticsclub.com

http://www.catapultqms.com

For more information:

Mike Dunn
Catapult International
growth@gocatapult.com

Henrik Christensen
China Logistics Club
henrik@chinalogisticsclub.com

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/10/10 -- FIRST BAUXITE CORPORATION ("First Bauxite" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: FBX)(FRANKFURT: FBI)(BERLIN: FBI) is pleased to announce that on February 5th, entered into a Letter of Intent with Bauxite Corporation of Guyana Inc. ("BCGI") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of BCGI ("the BCGI Shares") and accordingly, 100% of its interest in and all right and title to, the contiguous Tarakuli and Tarakulli North-West Prospecting Licenses in Northeast Guyana (the "Property"). First Bauxite will immediately commence due diligence on BCGI and its rights to the Property. The parties have agreed to negotiate and prepare a comprehensive acquisition agreement (the "Definitive Agreement") for execution on or before March 31, 2010.

In exchange for the BCGI Shares and its right to the Property, FBX will issue to the shareholders of BCGI (the "BCGI Shareholders"), an aggregate of 2,000,000 common shares in the capital of FBX (the "FBX Shares"). Specifically, BCGI Shareholders will receive, on the date the Acquisition is completed (the "Effective Date"), an aggregate of 2,000,000 FBX Shares, which will be distributed to the BCGI Shareholders pro rata to their holdings in the common shares of BCGI on the Effective Date. FBX will also be required to make a $100,000 cash payment to BCGI within 15 days following the execution date of the Definitive Agreement. Additionally, FBX will provide to the BCGI Shareholders a 1.5% net profit interest (the "NPI") with regard to minerals produced from the Property. FBX will have the right but not the obligation to purchase all, but not less than all of the NPI at any time, in exchange for a $2,000,000 cash payment to the BCGI Shareholders.

As a result of the issuance of the FBX Shares: (i) following the closing of the Acquisition, BCGI will become a wholly owned subsidiary of FBX; and (ii) the BCGI Shareholders will become shareholders of FBX.

The completion of the Acquisition is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to the completion by FBX of satisfactory due diligence on BCGI and its rights to the Property, the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange and the execution of the Definitive Agreement.

Hilbert Shields, the CEO of the Company stated "Through the acquisition of this drill outlined, high grade Tarakuli bauxite deposit, FBX is further leveraging our metallurgical grade bauxite exposure lead by our option agreement with Rio Tinto ALCAN on the exploration of the Essequibo PGGS; however, I would like to stress to our shareholders, that the Company's focus is still very firmly on completing the Feasibility Study for the development of Bonasika Deposits into a mine producing, with a state of the art sinter plant, a premium refractory grade calcined bauxite."

About Bauxite Corporation of Guyana and Tarakuli Property

Bauxite Corporation of Guyana Inc ("BCGI") is a private company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario and registered as an external company under the Companies Act of Guyana, which holds the rights to two Prospecting Licenses covering an area of approximately 10,000 hectares, that cover an historical bauxite deposit, named Tarakuli, in North Eastern Guyana. BCGI has submitted to the Guyana Geology & Mines Commission applications for three additional Prospecting Licenses, covering an area of 15000 hectares surrounding and contiguous to the two existing PLs. The Tarakuli Prospecting Licenses are located approximately 15 km inland from the Corentyne River, which is the border between Guyana and Suriname and approximately 90 km East of the Aroaima-Kwakwani bauxite Mines owned and operated by UC Rusal, the world's largest aluminum and alumina producer. The Tarakuli deposit was discovered by Reynolds Metals Company (USA) ("Reynolds Metals") in the 1960's when Reynolds Metals drilled on a 500 x 500 m grid more than 700 holes until 1972. The deposit is located over an area of 6.5 km by 1.5 km. In an attempt to outline the deposit and quantify a bauxite resource, Reynolds Metals drill data indicated an historical, inferred bauxite resource of approximately 62.7 million MT at 58.6% Al2O3, 4.7% SiO2, 2.5% TiO2 and 3.3% Fe2O3. Half of the tonnage was classified as metallurgical grade bauxite and half as chemical grade bauxite, using specifications of the time (3.0-5.5% silica & 1.5-4.5% Fe-oxide for metallurgical grade and 4.5-6.0% silica & less than 1.5% Fe-oxide for the chemical grade definitions). The average ore thickness is 6.61 metres and it is located below an average overburden cover of 46 metres. The source of the above listed drill data provided by Reynolds Metals is a report entitled "Geological Evaluation of the Tarakuli Bauxite Deposit in the Courentyne River Area of Guyana" dated as of July 2001, and prepared by Maurice C. Hamilton, and is based on the data collected by Reynolds Metals pursuant to an initial drilling campaign from 1962-1964 and a second drilling campaign in the early 1970's. In terms of the relevance and reliability of the historical estimate, the resource was based on 40 contiguous mineralized holes that indicated greater than 6 feet or 1.82 metres bauxite intersections. The historical estimates provided herein do not use categories other than the ones set out in sections 1.2 and 1.3 of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). At this time, FBX does not have available to it any more recent estimates or data regarding the Tarakuli property.

A qualified person has not done sufficient work on the Tarakuli property to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources under NI 43-101, FBX is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources as defined in sections 1.2 and 1.3 of NI 43-101, and the historical estimate should not be relied upon.

Yannis Tsitos, the President of the Company stated "I am very pleased that First Bauxite executed this Letter of Intent for the acquisition of BCGI and thereby the acquisition of the historical high-alumina Tarakuli bauxite deposit in Guyana. I am very excited by the potential medium to long-term value this transaction can bring to our shareholders. For less than 5% dilution we have acquired a significant, high quality bauxite deposit in the prolific Coastal Bauxite Belt of Guyana."

About First Bauxite and Bonasika Mining Licence

First Bauxite Corporation (TSX VENURE: FBX) is a Canadian natural resources company engaged in the exploration and development of bauxite deposits, through resource discovery and mining within a niche industrial market. The company has its head-office in Vancouver and its current assets in Guyana, South America and is managed by experienced geoscientists and business development professionals with worldwide experience in the exploration and mining business across a number of mineral commodities. The mission of First Bauxite is to become a near term, medium size producer and supplier of high quality refractory grade calcined bauxite. First Bauxite controls a large land package in Guyana's historical coastal bauxite belt, including the Bonasika Mining License and the Waratilla Prospecting License, covering deposits which were drilled in 1940's-60's by ALCAN and which host near surface deposits of refractory grade bauxite. The Company has commissioned a Feasibility Study over the Bonasika Project to analyze the technical and economic parameters of an independent mining and processing operation and is currently drilling the Waratilla bauxite deposits to outline the resources and to upgrade the historical reserves to NI 43-101 compliance. First Bauxite has additional upside potential to the metallurgical bauxite business, through an option agreement with Rio Tinto Alcan, whereby Rio can earn up to 75% interest in the Company's exploration ground by expending up to US$58 million in stages. For further information on First Bauxite Corporation, please visit our corporate website at www.firstbauxite.com.

On behalf of The Board of Directors of First Bauxite Corporation

Ioannis (Yannis) Tsitos           Hilbert N. Shields
President & Director              CEO & Director

This document contains certain forward looking statements which involve known and unknown risks, delays, and uncertainties not under the Company's control which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the results, performance or expectation implied by these forward looking statements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:
First Bauxite Corporation
Ioannis (Yannis) Tsitos
President & Director
604-806-0916
604-806-0956 (FAX)
www.firstbauxite.com