A covering material for an electric wire contains a polyvinyl chloride. Thus, efficient Cu filling-plating is possible, and plating adhesion of the seed layer to filling-plated Cu can be simply and profitably enhanced, thus imparting high durability upon forming metal wiring for electronic components. When the transmission rate acquired in a header decoder is 200 Mbps or lower, the first processing unit subjects an input signal to hard decision and decodes the signal subjected to hard decision. In the example method, forwarding and discard decisions for packets processed using such techniques are made based on the final marking. A barrier region of the first conduction type is formed in the channel, and a quantum well region of the second conduction type formed in the channel. Cycle and shape parameters are derived from a recorded time trace containing heart rate data collected while an individual performs a cyclic exercise routine.