AXCESS Develops ASIC-Based Tag Platform; New Tag Design Supports Expanded Vertical Markets.

Business/Technology Editors

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2001

AXCESS Inc. (Nasdaq:AXSI), a leading provider of asset management products and solutions, announced today that the company has completed the development of an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) that forms the basis for a new, flexible design platform for its ActiveTag(TM) product line.

This new ASIC-based platform is being incorporated into AXCESS' line of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags used for locating, tracking and monitoring people, asset and vehicles. The release is planned for early April.

This new tag design platform makes it possible to add more features and functionality in a more flexible, compact package size. The first tag implemented using the ASIC design platform resulted in a size reduction of over 40%, a component count reduction of over 50%, and more than doubled the number of sensor interfaces that can be supported. In addition to reduced size and enhanced flexibility, the ASIC platform also reduces power consumption and significantly lowers cost.

"AXCESS has been working for over two years on the ASIC program with the objective of producing a more cost-effective means of automatically monitoring people, equipment and sensors via a common wireless network," stated Richard Brown, Director of RFID Products for AXCESS Inc. He continued, "This is all about customer value. The ASIC-based design provides AXCESS with an enhanced tag platform to offer more features and greater form factor flexibility to meet our customers' needs. The ability to respond quickly to these needs gives our product line significant leverage in several targeted markets."

Initial tag designs incorporating the ASIC are targeted at the Corporate IT, Healthcare and Data Center markets where AXCESS has experienced strong interest in its asset management and status monitoring solutions. For instance, in healthcare applications the ActiveTag system not only helps hospitals locate and manage their extensive inventory of high value equipment, but also allows them to track patients and staff using the same wireless infrastructure. New tag designs help monitor and track equipment, with up to five discrete I/O ports that can be implemented to provide instantaneous, wireless notification of operational parameters, such as on/off, fluid level, temperature, etc.

Colocation facilities and IT data centers are currently using tags to secure their clients' servers by maintaining an automatic inventory of tagged equipment, as well as preventing equipment from leaving the facility unless authorized to do so. The tags also provide status monitoring of critical environmental conditions, such as temperature and tampering, within cages and cabinets, and will automatically alert personnel should conditions deviate from user defined levels. The status monitoring function utilizes the same wireless infrastructure implemented for locating and managing the equipment, thus foregoing the expense of installing and maintaining a hard-wired sensor network at twice the cost.

For more information on the AXCESS product lines, visit the company's website at www.axcessinc.com.

About AXCESS

AXCESS Inc., headquartered in Dallas, TX, provides network-based system solutions to the enterprise using patented technologies in wireless, automatic identification and multi-media for improving operations productivity, physical security, asset and inventory management, and ERP. Products include hands-free, long range RFID (radio frequency identification) technology used to track and monitor people, assets, inventory and vehicles as well as patented digital video compression technology for enterprise multi-media transmission and digital recording. AXCESS Inc. is an incuVest partner company.