Sirit’s INfinity 510 is First EPC Certified Reader to Support NXP’s Gen 2 Enhancements

New custom commands extend Gen 2 functionality

Toronto, ON. – Sirit Inc. (“Sirit”) (TSX: SI), a leading provider of radio frequency identification (“RFID”) technology, and NXP Semiconductors (“NXP”), the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips and a leading supplier of RFID chips today announced interoperability support for all of the custom commands in NXP’s newest UCODE G2X chips. The latest firmware version of Sirit’s best-in-class INfinity 510 reader (“IN510”) will take advantage of the extended functionality built into NXP’s UCODE G2XM and G2XL chips. These functions have been implemented in NXP’s silicon and Sirit’s IN510 to support the demands of sophisticated customers who are implementing RFID solutions that go far beyond simple compliance tagging.

The NXP UCODE G2XL and G2XM are the only UHF integrated circuits (ICs) in the market today providing sophisticated custom commands such as Electronic Article Surveillance for increased theft protection; Read Protect, which prevents unauthorized reading of a tag and provides enhanced privacy; and Calibrate, which makes it easier for readers to accurately evaluate tags. NXP’s G2XM and G2XL IC’s are currently available for tag manufacturing.

“We are pleased to be the first EPCglobal Gen 2 Certified reader manufacturer to support these extended features. The EPC Gen 2 standard has been readily accepted by the market, but many end-users have sought additional capabilities beyond what the standard provides,” stated Tony Sabetti, vice president, RF Solutions for Sirit Inc. “The custom commands that NXP’s UCODE G2X chips incorporate provide enhanced features sought by many market sectors including retail, pharmaceuticals, recorded media, apparel and entertainment. In combination with the best performance from any Gen 2 tag chip, this latest set of feature enhancements is a major step forward for the industry.”

”With reliable operation on different materials, across very long read ranges and in dense reader environments, the UCODE G2X also offers breakthrough UHF performance, as well as 512 bits of user memory which is the largest available on the market today,” said Jan-Willem Reynaerts, general manager, RFID market sector, NXP Semiconductors. “We are pleased that leading makers of RFID readers, such as Sirit, are leveraging the full functionality of the UCODE G2X, which offer many enhanced features in addition to supporting the EPC Gen 2 standard.”

“In a number of customer field tests, along with the ODIN technologies’ European RFID Reader Benchmark™ report, the IN510 has shown to provide superior performance in reading high tag populations within challenging application environments,” continued Mr. Sabetti. “When you combine our proprietary tag acquisition algorithms and dense reader mode performance with NXP’s increased sensitivity and signal interference management, end-users can expect better performance than provided by competitive solutions.”

The IN510’s new firmware includes a number of enhancements. In addition to supporting the NXP UCODE G2X feature-set, this new firmware extends the ability for IN510s to operate under regulatory approval in China, Taiwan, South Africa and Israel. The new firmware will be available to customers in the first quarter and can be flash uploaded to readers already deployed in the field. A Webinar co-hosted by NXP and Sirit entitled “Capturing the Value of EPC Gen 2 Custom Commands” will take place in mid-January.