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.

PLEASANTON, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/10/10 -- Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the global leader in telepresence, video and voice communication solutions, today announced enhanced management and infrastructure solutions to drive broader deployments of visual communication and video-enabled unified communications (UC) networks that include telepresence, video conferencing and desktop video collaboration. The enhanced platforms deliver greater network efficiency, improved reliability and fault tolerance, and will allow customers to more effectively provision and manage broad-scale visual communication networks and video-enabled Microsoft unified communication environments.

"Visual communication is a mission-critical application for many customers, and Polycom's standards-based solution is the only fully redundant and most network efficient, reliable and scalable platform for broad-scale visual communications as well as video-enabled unified communications networks," said Joe Sigrist, senior vice president and general manager of video solutions at Polycom. "Polycom is listening to customers and delivering industry-leading solutions that address the real-world needs of users and network administrators. And through our Polycom Open Collaboration Network (POCN) partners, we are delivering integrated unified communications and collaboration solutions that provide customers with open interoperability, flexibility and investment protection, such as the new, expanded solution for Microsoft environments."

The expanded capabilities are enabled by enhancements to the Polycom Converged Management Application™ (CMA™), a comprehensive management and provisioning platform supporting Polycom and other standards-based telepresence and video conferencing endpoints and infrastructure solutions, and the Polycom Distributed Media Application™ (DMA™), a unique network-based application for managing and distributing multipoint calls across conference platforms that provides higher network scalability, reliability and redundancy.

Polycom DMA 2.0 enhancements include:

--  Intelligent call routing for improved quality of experience and network
    efficiency -- The Polycom solution intelligently routes multi-point
    conferences on the network based on the geographical location of
    participants to deliver more efficient bandwidth use and a better
    quality of experience.

--  Expanded fault tolerance for improved reliability -- The Polycom
    solution provides greater fault tolerance and reliability by routing
    calls across bridging resources based on location and resource
    availability and by automatically moving conferences in the event of a
    disruption, such as a power failure.

--  Extended interoperability and UC integration -- In addition to
    supporting H.323, Polycom DMA now also supports SIP for extended
    interoperability across networks within UC environments.

--  Simultaneous support for both scheduled and ad-hoc conferences -- The
    Polycom DMA now allows organizations to migrate to ad-hoc video services
    affordably by supporting both ad-hoc and scheduled requirements
    simultaneously on Polycom RMX bridges, eliminating the need for
    separate, dedicated resources.

Polycom DMA 2.0 and CMA 5.0 enhancements supporting Microsoft unified communications include:

-- Unified Communications integration -- Microsoft Office Communications Server -- Polycom has expanded its integrated solution for Microsoft Office Communications Server to simplify provisioning and management of Polycom systems in a Microsoft UC environment, to allow users to easily launch Polycom video solutions from presence-enabled Microsoft applications, to easily schedule and join video meetings through Microsoft Outlook, and to support large-scale desktop video deployments. Additional information about Polycom's expanded integration for Microsoft UC environments are outlined in a press release issued Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010, titled: "Polycom Delivers Breakthrough Video Integration for Microsoft Unified Communications Environments."

Polycom CMA 5.0 enhancements include:

--  Greater video network management control and flexibility -- The Polycom
    solution provides more comprehensive management capabilities and a
    dramatically simplified and user-customizable interface that allows
    network administrators to more effectively monitor network and system
    usage, locate issues and address any problems.

--  Expanded system and conference monitoring -- Enhanced conference
    monitoring capabilities help ensure a consistent, high-quality
    experience for users. New workflows allow administrators to quickly
    locate and access key information, easily move between multiple
    conferences and control top-level functions including muting audio and
    video, and adding or removing participants.

--  Broader Management Support for Polycom Systems -- IT support teams now
    have full management and provisioning capabilities for the Polycom HDX
    6000™ and HDX 6000 View™ room telepresence systems, and the
    Polycom QDX 6000™ standard definition video conferencing system, as
    well as management of the Polycom RMX 4000™ highly scalable
    multipoint conferencing platform.

--  Reporting tools for monitoring usage, measuring ROI and billing -- IT
    support teams can track and report usage of endpoints and bridging
    resources to assess utilization, show usage trends and measure return on
    investment. The enhanced reporting capabilities can also be used to
    determine billing for shared resources between departments, agencies,
    campuses, etc.

Availability:

Polycom CMA release 5.0 and Polycom DMA release 2.0 are scheduled for availability in April 2010.

Supporting Links:

-- Polycom Telepresence and Video Conferencing Solutions Website and Photos on Flickr

-- Follow Polycom on Twitter and Subscribe to Polycom News RSS

Tags / Keywords:

Polycom, telepresence, videoconferencing, collaboration, unified communications, UC, video conferencing, video communication, visual communication, Microsoft, Microsoft Office Communications Server, Microsoft OCS

About Polycom

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) is the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice solutions and a visionary in communications that empower people to connect and collaborate everywhere. Visit www.polycom.com for more information and follow us on Twitter @AllAboutPolycom.

© 2010 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. POLYCOM®, the Polycom "Triangles" logo and the names and marks associated with Polycom's products are trademarks and/or service marks of Polycom, Inc. and are registered and/or common law marks in the United States and various other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Contact:
Kevin Young
Polycom, Inc.
+1.925.924.5706
Email Contact

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Feb. 10, 2010) - Mart Resources, Inc. ("Mart" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: MMT) announces that it has granted stock options to purchase up to 7,550,000 common shares of the Corporation to certain officers and directors of the Corporation and stock options to purchase up to 4,250,000 common shares of the Corporation to employees and consultants of the Corporation. The options have an exercise price of $0.17 per common share and expire on February 9, 2015.

ABOUT MART RESOURCES:

Mart Resources Inc. is an independent, international petroleum company focused on drilling, developing and producing oil and gas from low-risk proven petroleum properties in Africa. The Corporation currently is producing from the Umusadege Field, Nigeria.

Additional information regarding Mart Resources, Inc. is available on the company's website at www.martresources.com.

NEITHER THE 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 THE RELEASE.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
        Mart Resources Inc.
        Wade Cherwayko
        London: +44 207 953 4090
        Wade@martresources.com

        Mart Resources Inc.
        David Halpin
        Calgary: (403) 270-1841
        David.Halpin@martresources.com
        www.martresources.com

Source: Mart Resources, Inc.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Feb. 10, 2010) - Quaterra Resources Inc. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: QTA)(NYSE Amex:QMM) today announced that Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G)(NYSE: GG), has entered into a binding Investment Framework Agreement (IFA) with the Company. The IFA formalizes the terms of a previously announced Letter of Intent that provides Goldcorp with an option to acquire an interest in certain mining properties held by or acquired by Quaterra in central Mexico in return for funding a two-year generative exploration program by the Company through a private placement investment of US$10 million in the Company.

The first US$4 million portion of the private placement, which has closed, consists of units at C$1.41 comprised of 3,001,418 common shares of the Company and 1,500,709 two-year share purchase warrants exercisable at C$1.76 per share to purchase up to 1,500,709 common shares of the Company. Under applicable securities laws, the hold periods will expire on June 5, 2010.

Under the IFA, Goldcorp has an option to acquire up to 65% in any property held by Quaterra in central Mexico, with the exception of Nieves, by spending an additional US$2 million over a two-year period on advanced exploration on that property and by completing a Feasibility Study. Thereafter, Goldcorp will solely fund operations at the property until a production decision is made, at which point Quaterra will be responsible for contributing its proportionate share of expenditures.

"We are excited to be working with Goldcorp in central Mexico," says Quaterra President and CEO Thomas Patton. "The agreement allows us to focus on finding large precious metal deposits and positions Goldcorp with its financial strength and technical expertise, to develop them."

The IFA currently includes 12 properties covering over 950 square miles. Exploration will focus on discovering large Penasquito-style gold-silver deposits. Several of the early-stage Quaterra properties, most notably Sabino and Onix, have Penasquito-type potential. Ground geophysics are currently in progress, with drilling planned for the second quarter 2010.

Quaterra Resources Inc. is a junior exploration company focused on making significant mineral discoveries in North America. The Company uses in-house expertise and its extensive network of consultants, prospectors and industry contacts to identify, acquire and evaluate prospects in mining-friendly jurisdictions with the potential to host large and/or base metal, precious metal or uranium deposits.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Thomas Patton, President and Chief Executive Officer, Quaterra Resources Inc.

Some statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements within the safe harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements generally are identified by words such as the Company "believes", "expects", and similar language, or convey estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding risks and uncertainties which may cause results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements, are included in filings by the Company with securities regulatory authorities. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time except in accordance with applicable securities laws. References may be made in press releases to historic mineral resource estimates. None of these are NI 43-101 compliant and a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify these historic estimates as a current mineral resource. They should not be relied upon and Quaterra does not treat them as current mineral resources.

Expanded information on the Company's projects is described on our website at www.quaterra.com.

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. Similarly, the NYSE Amex has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this news release.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
        Quaterra Resources Inc.
        Nicole Rizgalla
        1-888-456-1112, 604-681-9059
        corpdev@quaterra.com
        www.quaterra.com

Source: Quaterra Resources Inc.