Texas Instruments Announces Availability of EPCglobal Certified Generation 2 RFID Silicon

Texas Instruments Announces Availability of EPCglobal Certified Generation 2 RFID Silicon

August 01, 2006

Advanced Design Improves Chip Performance to Ease Supply Chain RFID Adoption

    DALLAS, Aug. 1 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Using an advanced
silicon design that improves tag performance and facilitates
speed and visibility of retail supply chain goods, Texas
Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) (TI) today announced
the availability of its EPCglobal Inc(TM) certified
Generation 2 (Gen 2) ultra-high frequency (UHF) silicon.  

    Offered in wafer and strap form factors, TI has
developed its Gen 2 silicon on the most advanced analog
process node at 130 nanometer and with a built-in Schottky
diode for more efficient conversion of radio frequency (RF)
signal energy.  The result is silicon chips with low power
consumption and increased chip-to-reader sensitivity. 
Users can also write to TI's chips under the lowest RF
power conditions in spite of background electromagnetic
interference (EMI) common in typical supply chain factory
floor and warehouse environments.  

    Companies deploying UHF-based RFID systems based on
TI's Gen 2 technology can potentially capture a greater
percentage of reads on cases and pallets as they move
through manufacturing and distribution channels.  With
improved chip-to-reader sensitivity, companies can expect
to more accurately track products and packages at all
points throughout their supply chain operations and improve
process flow.  TI's chip also delivers reliable read range
performance across both standard and dense reader mode
operations.  As a result, users are less constrained in the
set-up and placement of RFID readers and can more readily
achieve effective results and maximum read rates.  

    Offering greater design flexibility to customers, TI is
providing its Gen 2 silicon to inlay, label and packaging
manufacturers in three convenient forms:  bare wafers to
support various assembly processes; processed wafers
(bumped, sawn with back grind) that are suitable for
immediate use with commercially available inlay equipment;
and silicon chip on straps for label and packaging
manufacturers who are printing their own antennas.  TI is
also offering reference antenna designs enabling customers
to develop labels and tags which optimize its Gen 2
silicon.

    "Users of EPC Gen 2 tags, from box and label
manufacturers to distributors of consumer product goods,
have different needs and expectations from RFID systems
that power their supply chains.  With TI technology, they
can take advantage of the form factor that is best suited
for their manufacturing flow," said Tony Sabetti,
director of UHF/Retail Supply Chain, Texas Instruments RFID
Systems.  "TI's Gen 2 chip is available in a variety of
form factors that users will find convenient and
flexible."

    TI has been awarded the EPCglobal Certification Mark
for its new UHF Gen 2 silicon.  The certification mark
signifies that TI's silicon has been tested and operates
according to the EPCglobal Gen 2 Air Interface protocol
standard ratified in December 2004. Meeting all of the
EPCglobal Gen 2 and ISO/IEC 18000-6c required
specifications with 192 bits of memory, this chip also goes
beyond the standard requirements to provide additional
functionality by supporting "block write" and
"block erase" commands.  TI's Gen 2 silicon is
intended for use in the manufacture of passive RFID tag
products operating in the 860 to 960 MHz. frequency band. 


    For more information on TI's Gen 2 chip and strap,
please visit http://www.ti.com/epcgen2 .  

    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(TM) at 1-800-962-RFID (7343) (North
America) or [phone] (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 includes the Educational &
Productivity Solutions business.  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 .

    Trademarks

    TI-RFid is a trademark of Texas Instruments.  All other
trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their
respective owners.

    For more information, please contact:

     Jamie Horton
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Eric Seymour
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]  

SOURCE  Texas Instruments