Alex Balkanski

Director

Prior to joining Benchmark, Alex led C-Cube and DiviCom, two pioneering companies that drove the MPEG standard to dominance in consumer electronics and broadcasting. Alex founded C-Cube in 1988. In 1994, he took the company public, and in 1998 he orchestrated C-Cube’s acquisition of DiviCom. By 2000, C-Cube was generating a half-billion dollars in annual revenue with 1,200 employees worldwide.

Widely recognized as industry leaders, C-Cube and DiviCom were the recipients of several prestigious awards, including an Emmy?the first ever awarded to a semiconductor company. C-Cube was also voted the Most Respected Public Company as well as the Best Financially Managed Company by the Fabless Semiconductor Association.

Alex serves on the Boards of Ambarella, Aspendos, Decru, Entrisphere, Infinera, Picarro and Xoomsys.

Alex holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree from Harvard University as well as a B.S. from Harvard College.

Benchmark's web site is www.benchmark.com.

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Vijay Parikh

Director

Mr. Vijay C. Parikh (Managing Principal) was Vice-President and General Manager within the Public Carrier IP Group (PCIPG) at Cisco. During his tenure he was responsible for developing and introducing the 10G solution on the 12416 GSR platform, which resulted in the sales growth from $400 million in FY 1998 to several billion dollars FY in 2001.

Mr. Parikh was President and CEO of StratumOne Communications, a leading developer of framers and layer 2/3 engines for 10G solutions in high-end routing/switching applications. StratumOne was funded by Sequoia Capital, Brentwood Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, and Redwood Ventures. Cisco Systems acquired StratumOne on September 20, 1999 representing its most expensive private acquisition at that time.

Prior to StratumOne, Mr. Parikh was VP/GM of the Wireless Communications Division (WCD) at Conexant where he grew it from a non-revenue position to a $180 million business at the time of his departure. WCD had programs in all of the key wireless technologies including GSM, CDMA, TDMA, Spread Spectrum, PHS, DECT and PDC. Prior to that he had several VP/GM positions at Conexant including those for the Personal Computing Division (PCD) which involved programs in software modems, PC audio and xDSL and the Global Positioning System (GPS) division which had programs focused on the integration of multi-channel GPS with wireless data systems including those for ARDIS, CDPD and Mobitex. He also held several management positions at Conexant in its Japanese Operations facility.

Mr. Parikh is Chairman of Ultradots, and is on the Board of Chelsio Communications, Newport Media and Teranetics.

Mr. Parikh has a BSEE from the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences in India and an MBA from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

Global Catalyst Partners' web site is www.gc-partners.com.

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Dwight W. Decker

Director

In addition to serving on the board of Newport Media, Mr. Decker has been chairman of the board of Conexant since December 1998, serving as the non-executive chairman of the board from February 2004 until November 2004 and again since July 2007. He served as the chief executive officer of Conexant from January 1999 to February 2004 and from November 2004 to July 2007.

Mr. Decker also serves as a director of BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing Limited (semiconductors-analog) and Pacific Mutual Holding Company (life insurance products). He also serves as a director or member of numerous professional and civic organizations.

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Steven Goldberg

Director

As an Executive-In-Residence at Venrock Associates. Steven currently sits on the boards of Newport Media, Quantenna, and Teranetics.

Prior to joining Venrock he led, as CEO, a number of early stage companies including DataRunway, Vidient, Arcwave, and CoWave Networks. His general management and technical experience have been focused in the telecommunications and wireless markets. He was also Vice President of Research and Development at Nokia Internet Communications and VP and GM of the Wireless Communications Division at Cylink Corporation, which, after going public, was later sold to P-Com. Additionally, he has held senior management and engineering positions at Trimble Navigation and Hewlett Packard.

Steve holds a Ph.D. E.E. from the University of California at Santa Barbara and M.S.E.E. and B.S.E.E degrees from Washington University in St Louis, Mo. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, and a past president of the IEEE Communications Society, Santa Clara Section.

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Sam Srinivasan

Director

Sam S. Srinivasan is the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Health Language, Inc., a leader in the development, delivery and marketing of software that reduces the complexity of incorporating medical vocabulary and coding standards into healthcare information technology applications.

Mr. Sam Srinivasan has been serving on the board of TranSwitch Corporation, a NASDAQ listed company and is the Chairman of the Audit Committee of its Board of directors. He has served on the board of SiRF technology holdings, Inc., a semiconductor company, until it was acquired by CSR, plc. Currently, Sam serves as the Chairman of the Audit Committees of Inphi Corporation and Beceem Communications, Inc. - both privately held semiconductor companies.

Mr. Srinivasan is also a charter member of the Weatherhead School Advisory Council, the School of Management of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Srinivasan has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Health Language, Inc. He was the Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Cirrus Logic, Inc. and served as Director, Internal Audits and subsequently as Corporate Controller of Intel Corporation. Previously he held several executive positions including Director, Internal Audits, of Eaton Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio.

Mr. Srinivasan holds an MBA from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Srinivasan had been a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, The Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India, and The Institute of Certified Financial Planners. Currently, he is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

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Nolan Daines

Director

Nolan Daines, Senior Vice President - Program Integration, AT&T Operations, Inc. is responsible for overall program management for large projects and initiatives that span AT&T Operations and other AT&T organizations. Additionally, Mr. Daines provides leadership on special study work related to technology deployment involving various AT&T stakeholders. Mr. Daines is based at AT&T headquarters in Dallas.

Mr. Daines came to AT&T from EchoStar/DISH Network. He joined the EchoStar Board of Directors in 1998 and then took an executive position in 2002. While at EchoStar/DISH Network he served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Executive Vice President of Information Technology and Broadband as well as Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives. In this role at EchoStar/DISH Network, he was responsible for Echostar's broadband initiatives including strategic alliances with telecommunications partners.

Previous to Echostar, Mr. Daines was involved the formation of a number of data network and video communication companies. In 1993 he founded DiviCom to develop MPEG 2 system communications products. The company introduced the world's first integrated MPEG 2 encoder. He served as President, CEO and Chairman from inception to the sale of the company in 1999.

Mr. Daines holds a number of Patents covering MPEG systems and he was the finalist in the Ernst & Young Northern California Entrepreneur of the Year in 1996.

A native of Spokane, WA, Mr. Daines followed an entrepreneurial path after undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University for a period of time. Between start-ups he also attended the University of Washington as part of an Executive MBA program.

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Russell Stern

Director

Russell Stern has served as President and CEO at Solarflare Communications since 2004. He was formerly President and CEO at JNI Corporation in San Diego, California. Prior to JNI, Stern served as General Manager and COO at Quantum Corporation. For more than 13 years, he held a number of increasingly responsible positions in the disc drive industry including five years at Western Digital Corporation in Irvine, CA, where he held the positions of Sr. VP, R and D, VP, Worldwide Operations and as Co-Chief Operating Officer. Stern has also held executive engineering and marketing positions with Seagate Technology and Adaptec. He began his career at IBM, where he held various engineering and management positions in the development and manufacturing of the IBM PC / XT / AT and PS/2. He obtained his Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. Stern is also Chairman of the Foundation Board for the Orange County High School of the Arts, a chartered public school in Santa Ana, CA.

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