Akita Electronics, Chipcon AS and Figure 8 Wireless Announce OEM Development Modules Based on Chipcon's CC2420 RF Platform

SAN DIEGO, CA and OSLO, NORWAY and AKITA CITY, JAPAN--(MARKET WIRE)--Jul 11, 2005 -- Chipcon AS, the world's leading provider of low cost, low power RF chipsets, along with Figure 8 Wireless, the leading provider of ZigBee-ready software and firmware and a subsidiary of Chipcon Group, and Akita Electronics Systems, a leading provider of sub-system solutions including RF & analog technology and a member of the HITACHI group, announced a licensing agreement between the companies for Figure 8 Wireless' Z-Stack embedded ZigBee networking software.

Akita will bring to market this fall, new OEM modules targeting building and industrial automation, telemetry and sensor network applications. The modules will give OEM manufacturers new microprocessor options for use with Chipcon's CC2420 RF chipset and Texas Instruments' MSP 430, ultra-low power microcontroller.

"This agreement opens the field for OEMs worldwide to new and better microcontroller options for use with our market leading CC2420 radios," commented Birgit Opland, Vice President of Marketing for Chipcon AS.

"With Akita Electronics Systems licensing our ZigBee Certified Z-Stack for the CC2420, OEMs developing on the Akita modules can be certain they are developing their products on a platform that has been in the hands of OEMs worldwide for over two years in pre-certified form," stated Graham Martin, President of Figure 8 Wireless.

Kazuharu Hirachi, Director of Design & Development Division of Akita, added, "We perceive the ZigBee market to be an enormous opportunity to drive growth for Akita and our customers. By choosing to license the Figure 8 Wireless Z-Stack in combination with the Chipcon CC2420 RF Transceiver, we have definitely identified a best-of-breed solution that we intend to offer."

About Chipcon AS

Chipcon is a leading provider of proprietary and standards based CMOS RF-ICs for wireless connectivity. Chipcon's RF-ICs provide low-cost, low-power and high-performance RF solutions for a large number of wireless applications. Chipcon's single-chip high-performance RF transceivers and transmitters target low-power wireless applications in the 300 to 1000 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands and are distributed worldwide. For more information, visit Chipcon's Web site at www.chipcon.com, e-mail at pr@chipcon.com or call the company directly at +47 22 95 85 44.

About Figure 8 Wireless, Inc.

Figure 8 Wireless is leading the way in wireless device connectivity and networking based on the Zigbee/802.15.4 standards. Figure 8's Z-Stack and Z-Tools embedded software and development tools are in the hands of OEM device manufacturers on four continents. Figure 8 Wireless is sister company to Chipcon AS as a member of the Chipcon Group of Oslo, Norway. For more information, visit Figure 8's Web site at http://www.f8w.com, e-mail at pr@f8w.com or call the company directly at (858) 552-8500 x9.

About Akita Electronics Systems

Akita Electronics Systems Co., Ltd. offers best-of-breed software and hardware solutions based on years of expertise in radio frequency and analog circuit design technology, verification and development capability of LSI such as memory, small size and high-density assembly technology. For more information, visit Akita's Web site at http://www.akita-elec.co.jp/, or e-mail at info@akita-elec.co.jp