Spencer Horowitz 1 Copyright Business Wire 2009

Low-cost Passive Device Family Improves Giga-bit Transmission Over CopperInterconnects and FR4 BackplanesSAN JOSE, Calif.(Business Wire)Chrontel (), a leading provider of video interface technologies,today announced a new series of CH6000 passive equalizer devices designed toenhance performance of high data-rate transmission media. CH6000 devices cancompensate for transmission losses that plague popular interconnects at datarates up to 5 Gbps. These new devices are ideally suited for HDMI, DisplayPortand other high-speed cabling, as well as for FR4 printed circuit boards (PCBs)used as backplane system interconnects. The copper used as a transmission medium in cables, and the FR4 material used asan insulator in PCBs, act like low-pass filters that attenuate high frequencycomponents of a high-speed digital signal.

This attenuation introducesinter-symbol interference (ISI) at giga-bit data rates-closing the symbol "eye"that defines the data transmission. CH6000 devices are passive network high-passfilters that create an inverse channel response, which counteracts the low-passcharacteristics inherent in copper and FR4. By incorporating a CH6000 device,the transmission medium achieves an essentially flat frequency response over theentire giga-bit frequency spectrum required for HDMI, DisplayPort and otherhigh-speed protocols. "With the proliferation of HDMI, DisplayPort and other high data-rate protocols,which are essential for digital video transmission and networking, the physicallimitations of copper connections are increasingly revealed," said Dr DavidSoo, Chrontel President and CEO. "Our customers needed a very low-cost way toimprove transmission performance, without adding complexity to their PC and CEsystems.

They can be placed anywhere in the data path, providing greatflexibility in routing and placement design. The devices are protocolindependent, offering bi-directional operation and loss compensation for anydifferential signal. Pricing and AvailabilityChrontel CH6000 samples are currently available, and production volumes will beavailable in March 2009. CH6000 devices are available in a 4-pin LFCSP/LPCCpackages and are priced at $0.50 in 10,000 piece quantities. Additional information about all Chrontel products can be found on the web at http:// About Chrontel, Inc.Founded in 1986, privately held Chrontel is a leading supplier of videointerface ICs and technologies to computer manufacturers worldwide. Thecompany's innovations include the world's first VGA-to-TV encoder. Chrontel, Inc.Spencer Horowitz, 1 Copyright Business Wire 2009.

Andy Home is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed arehis own By Andy Home LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The LME "street" doesn't doprolonged recessions very well. A natural tendency to bullishexuberance has been accentuated by the extraordinary bull run ofthe last few years. That part of the cycle is definitively over but there isalready a palpable impatience with metal prices that arelanguishing at multi-year lows. The market is poring over the news for signs of a turningpoint that might herald a return to the good times. Will China's State Reserve Bureau come to the rescue of thecopper market by buying up half a million tonnes of the redmetal How many more zinc mines must close before that market movesto balance And does the stalling of the uptrend in LME nickelstocks signal that prices are now close to the bottom Nickel, though, far from being at a turning point may serveas an object lesson in the perils of false dawns. STOCKS STALL It is indeed true that the seemingly inexorable rise in LMEinventories of nickel has lost a lot of momentum since the startof January.