))) Texas Instruments RFID Systems Introduces its Family of 13.56 MHz Smart Label Readers Supporting New ISO 15693 Standard

))) DALLAS, TX (September 25, 2001)

Texas Instruments Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems today announced the addition of several new members to its high-frequency (HF) reader family which support the global International Standards Organization (ISO) 15693 standard.

The TI S6500 and TI S6550 Long Range Reader systems, and the TI S6350 Mid-Range Reader system support all RFID tags compatible with the ISO 15693 standard, including TI's new Tag-it™ ISO Inlay, as well as the company's Tag-it™ smart label inlay products.

The new TI 6000 Series readers are designed for RFID applications such as access control, product authentication, ticketing, asset management and supply chain management. All of the readers operate at 13.56MHZ making them suitable for RFID applications worldwide.

"With the addition of these new products, TI-RFid™ Systems offers a complete family of reader products for ISO compatible tags, allowing product design engineers, OEMs and systems integrators to choose which reader best fits their requirements," said Bill Allen, eMarketing Manager for Texas Instruments RFID Systems.

The S6500 Long Range Reader is a "design-in" product that can be used as the reader component in an RFID system solution. The S6500 requires a power supply, housing, interface connections and antenna. The S6550 is a fully-encased, plug and play version, complete with a power supply, housing and interface connections, requiring only the attachment of an antenna. Both systems offer up to 10 watts of output power and feature advanced antenna management. These readers use one active (transmit/receive) antenna, enabling OEMs and systems integrators to configure more cost-effective read gates with just one reader. The S6350 Mid-Range Reader board offers 120m watts of output power and is ideal for embedded "design-in" systems applications due to its small size, low power requirements and relatively low price.

The TI S6500 and TI S6550 Long-Range Readers, and the TI S6350 Mid-Range Reader, available now, are part of the Texas Instruments RFID Systems family of tag and reader products designed to support the ISO 15693 global standard. Other products in the TI-RFid™ ISO 15693 family include the Tag-it™ Multi-Protocol Transceiver IC, which combines RF communication and signal detection capabilities into a single-chip design making it easier and more cost-effective to build RFID smart label readers.