Press Releases

Fujitsu and University of Toronto Develop World's First Digitally-Processed Gigabit-Class High-Speed Transceiver Chip Feb 10, 2010 10:59AM

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.

Fujitsu and University of Toronto Develop High-Reliability Read-Method for Spin-Torque-Transfer MRAM Feb 10, 2010 10:54AM

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.

Fluor Wins New DuPont O&M Contract for Nine Sites Feb 10, 2010 07:56AM

Focus Includes Ongoing Small Capital Construction, Maintenance and Plant Services

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that DuPont Engineering has awarded the company a construction, maintenance and services contract for nine sites throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. This new contract includes seven existing sites in which Fluor already serves, plus two additional sites in Kinston, N.C. and Manati, Puerto Rico. Fluor booked the undisclosed contract value in the fourth quarter of 2009.

"Through our 30-plus-year relationship with DuPont, we have demonstrated long-term value in quality of service and cost effectiveness year after year," said Bill Wasilewski, vice president of sales for Fluor's Global Services Group. "More importantly, our more than 30 years without a lost work day at DuPont sites at the Front Royal, Va., site--and 23 years at both Florence, S.C., and Fayetteville, N.C., sites--exemplifies the clear focus we put on safety for both DuPont and Fluor employees."

"We appreciate the confidence that DuPont places in Fluor to execute a variety of construction and maintenance services at its operating facilities," said Kirk Grimes, president of Fluor's Global Services Group. "Our ability to leverage services across clusters of sites provides DuPont with a flexible and cost-effective contracting solution that fits its business model."

As part of the work that Fluor will perform across the nine sites, some 600 plant personnel will work at the facilities on an ongoing basis for the duration of the new three-year contract.

Fluor's Global Services business segment offers customized solutions that assist plant and facility owners in improving their operations and enhancing the execution of their capital projects. Services include operations and maintenance, small capital project execution, turnarounds, facility management, plant engineering, mobile equipment, tools and contract staffing.

About Fluor

Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) designs, builds and maintains many of the world's most challenging and complex projects. Through its global network of offices on six continents, the company provides comprehensive capabilities and world-class expertise in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations, maintenance and project management. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Fluor is a FORTUNE 200 company and had revenues of $22.3 billion in 2008. For more information, visit www.fluor.com.

    Source: Fluor Corporation

Growth of Digital Coupons Outpaces That of Printed Newspaper Coupons 10 to 1 Feb 10, 2010 07:55AM

Coupons.com Reports 2009 Growth and Year-End Milestones

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- On the heels of recent research indicating coupon usage increased in 2009 for the first time in 17 years1, Coupons.com today released its annual data regarding digital coupons. The Coupons.com data reports an increase in printed savings of over 170 percent during 2009. Compared to growth metrics for coupons inserted into newspapers, which range between 8 and 16 percent,2,3 digital coupons dramatically outpaced the growth of its newspaper counterparts, by more than 10 to 1. Coupons.com Incorporated reported that almost $1 billion in savings was printed from the Coupons.com network last year and released other industry metrics as well as an overview of 2009 corporate milestones. The company is the recognized leader in digital coupons, including online printable, save to loyalty card and mobile promotions.

"For the first time in almost two decades the use of coupons increased in 2009, in part due to the growth of digital coupons as more consumers made them part of their shopping routine and more brands tapped them to engage with their consumers," said Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons.com Incorporated. "We expect the adoption of digital coupons will continue to accelerate in 2010 as consumers and brands alike increasingly adopt them, and as we continue to enable companies to engage with their consumers with coupons in innovative ways, including mobile and social media initiatives."

Printed Saving Approaches $1 Billion

Printed savings from Coupons.com and the Coupons.com digital coupon network in 2009 exceeded $858 million. The 170 percent increase over 2008 represents even faster growth than the company experienced the prior year (2008 grew 133 percent compared to 2007). The company believes that key factors influencing the growth included increased consumer adoption of online printable, save to store loyalty card and mobile coupons and increased use of digital coupons by brand marketers, including manufacturers and retailers alike.

Increased Consumer Interest

Representing over 20 percent of the U.S. population, more than 45 million American consumers are now using online coupons, up from 38 million in 2008. Of the 45 million online coupon users, almost one third (13.1 million) does not clip coupons from their Sunday newspaper, a 140 percent increase over 9.4 million in 2008.4

Coupons/Rewards was the 5th fastest growing Internet category in 2009, increasing 36 percent (based on unique monthly users, Jan to Dec), outpacing other advancing categories such as Personals, Email and Search.5 Additionally, reflective of trends in the consumer vernacular, Internet queries for coupons and related terms increased significantly on search engines during the year. Specifically, searches on Google for "Printable Coupons" and "Online Printable Coupons" increased 186 and 178 percent, respectively.6 In addition, Yahoo! reported that "Coupons" was No. 1 on its list of economy-related queries for 2009, followed by "Unemployment," "Stimulus Plan," "Cash for Clunkers," and "Student Loans."7

2009 Demographics

The consumer who prints digital coupons has an average household income of $97,000, a 23 percent higher income level than the U.S average. 34 percent of those who print digital coupons have a college degree (up from 32 percent in 2008), compared to 30 percent of those who use newspaper coupons and 27 percent of the general populace. Users of digital coupons have higher household incomes and are better educated than users of newspaper coupons and the general population.8

Coupon Usage by Category

Cereal was by far the most popular coupon category in 2009.9 It was followed by other perennial favorites, including Yogurt, Snacks, Condiments and Pizza. Reflecting an increase in popularity of non-grocery food coupons, top advancing categories included Restaurants and Entertainment, which ranked No. 6 and 8, respectively.

The top ten categories for 2009 are: 1. Ready-to-Eat Cereal; 2. Yogurt; 3. Sweet Snacks; 4. Refrigerated Dough; 5. Salty Snacks; 6. Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR)/Casual Dining; 7. Nutritional Snacks; 8. Entertainment; 9. Condiments; and 10. Pizza.

Coupon Usage by City

Atlanta topped the list of the Most Frugal U.S. Cities, with the average Coupons.com user in the Georgia capital saving over $531 with coupons from the site in 2009. As measured by the Coupons.com Savings Index,10 Tampa, Florida followed closely in the number two position.

The top 10 couponing cities, with corresponding savings index, are: 1. Atlanta, GA 918; 2. Tampa, FL 522; 3. Cincinnati, OH 511; 4. Saint Louis, MO 468; 5. Minneapolis, MN 351; 6. Nashville, TN 308; 7. Charlotte, NC 306; 8. Cleveland, OH 272; 9. Pittsburgh, PA 254; 10. Kansas City, MO 254.

Business Milestones

"2009 was an amazing year for Coupons.com, and we made tremendous strides on all fronts of our business. Not only did we approach $1 billion in printed savings, we also introduced exciting new products, including our mobile applications, and continued to expand our IP portfolio," said Boal. "In addition, we attracted new customers that catapulted Coupons.com into the Top 50 largest U.S. Web properties and signed on many new partners and clients, further cementing our leading position as the go-to source for marketers wanting to coupon-enable their marketing programs."

Consumers. In 2009, Coupons.com surged into the Top 50 largest U.S. Web properties. In October, with 19.5 million unique monthly users, Coupons.com was at the No. 39 position, ahead of Twitter.com, for reference, at No. 41.11 Coupons.com attributes the growth to consumers' increased comfort online, more coupons offered by a wider variety of brands, as well as the economic environment.

Clients. For years, Coupons.com has been the go-to source for brands wanting to coupon-enable their online marketing campaigns, including online display, email, social media initiatives. In 2009, the company added new major consumer brands to its roster of clients. In addition to adding new clients, existing customers issued more offers and more widely distributed those offers than in 2008. Brands are moving more and more of their coupon promotions budgets to digital coupons, and some brands have stated that they are dedicating 100 percent to digital, abandoning long-term relationships with the free standing newspaper inserts.

New Consumer Products. The company released several new products in 2009 and introduced new ways for consumers to save money or shop better.

    --  Coupons.com.In addition to providing the largest selection of online
        printable coupons available anywhere, Coupons.com introduced new types
        of digital coupons, including Save to Card and Show & Save. In addition,
        the site also added coupon codes with which consumers can save on their
        online purchases.

-- Save to Card - allows shoppers to save coupon offers directly to their store loyalty cards. The paperless, virtual coupons are automatically deducted at checkout. Save to Card currently works with loyalty cards from Safeway, Vons, Dominick's, Genuardi's, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Pavilions, and Carrs. Additional retailers will be added in 2010.

-- Show & Save - enables shoppers to either print a local coupon offer or simply show the coupon on a mobile device at checkout at the retailer or service provider. Collectively, over 12,000 coupons are available and offer savings for a wide variety of local restaurants, retailers, and services -- from pizzerias to plumbers and dry cleaners to dog walkers.

-- Coupon Codes - gives access to hundreds of thousands of online coupon codes that provide discounts or free shipping on online purchases from over 40,000 retailers.12

    --  Coupons.com Mobile App. The free Coupons.com application for the iPhone
        debuted in the Apple App Store, making it easy for mobile users to
        browse and select coupons they can print, save to their grocery store
        loyalty card or redeem at point of sale by showing coupons on their
        mobile devices.
    --  Grocery iQ. Coupons.com introduced Version 2.0 of the
        critically-acclaimed Grocery iQ(TM) shopping list application, adding
        barcode scanning, real-time list synchronization and integrated coupons.
    --  Coupons.com HP App. Pre-loaded on many HP web-enabled printers and
        available in the HP App Store, the Coupons.com HP App lets users browse
        and print coupons and recipes with the swipe of a finger directly from
        the printers' TouchSmart panel.
    --  Surecaster(TM).With this new coupon targeting tool, marketers can
        deliver unique coupon offers by the behavior clusters consistent with
        their brand's targeting strategy. Offers are varied based on brand,
        competitive and category data.

Expanded Distribution Network. Coupons.com partnered with a host of publishers to introduce branded coupon galleries. Publishers added to the list include major magazine and online lifestyle sites, as well as many newspaper and TV sites. In addition, thousands of new publishers implemented Brandcaster(TM), an easy-to-use, self service solution to monetize Web site traffic with coupon offers that visitors print without leaving the site. The Coupons.com distribution network is by far the largest of its kind.

New Retail Partners. Coupons.com announced new retailer partners, which launched online printable or Save to Card coupon galleries. New retailers include A&P (and its banners SuperFresh, Waldbaum's, Pathmark, The Food Emporium and Food Basics), CVS, Duane Reade, H-E-B, Kmart, and Walgreens. This list joins existing partners, including Kroger and Safeway. Additional retailers are expected in 2010.

Data not otherwise cited is Coupons.com internal data.

1, 3. Inmar, Press Release, January 25, 2009

2. Marx Promotion Intelligence, a division of TNS Media Intelligence, Press Release, January 6, 2009

4, 8. Simmons Market Research, Summer 2009 and Summer 2008

5. Nielsen, December 2009

6. Google Insights for Search, for U.S. searches during the period beginning Jan. 4, 2009 and ending Nov. 28, 2009

7. Yahoo! Press Room, Dec. 1, 2009

9. Coupons.com Internal Data

10. Savings Index ranks cities (with a population of 300,000 or more) based on each city's total printed coupon savings on Coupons.com and the Coupons.com network in 2009 relative to its population size. With an index of 918, Atlanta residents are nine times more likely to print coupon savings than the average American city dweller.

11. Nielsen, October 2009

12. RetailMeNot, Monthly Data Report, November 2009

About Coupons Incorporated

Coupons.com Incorporated is the recognized leader in digital coupons, including online printable, save to loyalty card and mobile promotions. For consumers, our products include Coupons.com, recently the 39th largest Web property and No. 1 in the Coupons/Rewards category in the U.S., as well as Grocery iQ and Coupons.com mobile applications.** For brand marketers, we power the digital coupon initiatives in 1-to-1 online marketing campaigns -- including display advertising, email and social media programs -- and distribute digital coupons to millions of consumers through Coupons.com and thousands of Web sites comprising the Coupons.com digital coupon network. For publishers, we offer solutions to monetize Web site traffic, including branded microsites, and Brandcaster, a self-service option. Clients include hundreds of the top packaged goods brands (including Clorox, General Mills, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, and Kraft Foods), leading restaurant, toy and entertainment companies, as well as hundreds of retailers (such as A&P, CVS, Duane Reade, H-E-B, Kmart, Kroger, Safeway and Walgreens). Founded in 1998, the privately held company is based in Mountain View, CA. To start printing coupons, visit www.coupons.com. To learn more about the company visit www.couponsinc.com.

** Nielsen, October 2009

    Source: Coupons.com Incorporated

PepsiCo Announces Cash Election Deadline Feb 10, 2010 07:55AM