Texas Instruments to Provide EPC Gen 2 RFID Tags Based on Recently Ratified EPCglobal Standard

Texas Instruments has confirmed plans to deliver Electronic Product Code (EPC) UHF Generation 2 radio frequency identification (RFID) products to the market, based on the recently ratified EPCglobal Inc. Gen 2 specification, with working samples available in the second quarter of 2005 and volume production in the third quarter of next year.

The company has been developing an EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID solution over the past year, in cooperation with the EPCglobal Inc. standards body, and will provide the market with EPC Gen 2 chips, straps and inlays. This new UHF RFID standard is broadly supported by users and manufacturers within the RFID industry and will facilitate the widespread deployment of EPC RFID technology in the retail supply chain. In 2004, TI and other major RFID suppliers moved toward the ratification of EPCglobal Gen 2, a standards-based UHF technology platform that allows for global interoperability, read/write capabilities and migration to future EPC classes. Texas Instruments is supporting the EPC Gen 2 market through its network of label converters, equipment providers and systems integrators.

"EPC Gen 2 moves this core technology beyond trials into wide-scale deployments," said Tony Sabetti, UHF/Retail Supply Chain director for Texas Instruments RFid Systems. "We're eager to apply our 15 years of RFID manufacturing expertise to achieve high-volume UHF Gen 2 tag production that meets the demanding yield and reliability needs of the market."