Texas Instruments Delivers EPC Gen 2 Tag Emulators to RFID Reader and Printer Manufacturers to Ensure Interoperability

DALLAS, March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) today announced that it is delivering Electronic Product Code(TM) (EPC) Generation 2 tag emulators to five of the leading RFID reader and printer manufacturers. This effort, underway since Q4 2004 in parallel with the company's Gen 2 RFID product development, helps to ensure EPC Gen 2 interoperability between TI transponders, and readers and printers being manufactured based on the recently ratified, next-generation EPCglobal Inc(TM) ultra-high frequency (UHF) standard. The reader and printer manufacturers will use the TI emulators to simulate 96 bit code read/write, lock, as well as other functionality defined by the EPC Gen 2 protocol, to facilitate their development of EPC Gen 2 products.

TI's delivery of EPC Gen 2 emulators is a milestone on the company's path to achieving interoperability of Gen 2 products in the market as it ramps to production of EPC Gen 2 technology later this year. Texas Instruments is on a rapid development path for its EPC Gen 2 chips, inlays and straps with sample deliveries to customers starting in Q2 2005 and volume production in Q3 2005.

"We're providing emulator boards early in the reader and printer development cycle so that our industry partners can get a jump start on attaining the highest level of interoperability of their products with our Gen 2 tags," said Tony Sabetti, UHF/Retail Supply Chain director, Texas Instruments RFid Systems.

Texas Instruments is also actively supporting EPCglobal Inc efforts for interoperability of EPC Gen 2 tags and readers to facilitate EPCglobal adoption and implementation in the supply chain.

About Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments is the world's largest integrated manufacturer of radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders and reader systems. Capitalizing on its competencies in high-volume semiconductor manufacturing and microelectronics packaging, TI is a visionary leader and at the forefront of establishing new markets and international standards for RFID applications. For more information, contact TI-RFid Systems at 1-888-937-6536 (North America) or +1 972-575-4364 (International), or visit the Web site at http://www.ti-rfid.com/ .

Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries. Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com/ .

CONTACT: Bill Allen of Texas Instruments RFid Systems, +1-214-567-2511,
or billallen@ti.com ; or Kim Novino of Bridgeman Communications,
+1-617-742-7270, or kim@bridgeman.com , for Texas Instruments Incorporated

Web site: http://www.ti.com/
http://www.ti-rfid.com/