1999-10-29 , ESC-9958
Business News From Philips Semiconductors

Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) and Philips Semiconductors announced today that they have combined forces to develop a special transponder (also known as cartridge memory) that will be embedded into HP's future Ultrium-format tape cartridges, used to store up to 200 Gbytes of computer data, using data compression. The transponder enables faster contact-free access to detailed cartridge information.

The transponder is a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) circuit, comprising EEPROM memory and a radio frequency communication interface, and serves as contactless accessible memory to store tape-related information. This evolution in tape cartridge intelligence enables the contents of a tape cartridge to be interrogated without any physical contact between the tape and reader. Ultrium format tape drive users will benefit from significant performance advantages, such as faster backup, access and restore times, especially in automated tape libraries. At the same time, the Ultrium format transponder offers notable quality and supportability benefits due to the diagnostic capabilities and reduced tape wear that the transponder enables.

Jack Trautman, General Manager of Hewlett-Packard's Computer Peripherals Bristol Division, explained why HP chose to develop the cartridge transponder with Philips Semiconductors: "As one of the driving forces behind the development of the Ultrium format technology, HP has a responsibility to ensure that media manufacturers will have the highest quality components available when they come to manufacture the Ultrium cartridge format." Trautman continued, "Philips Semiconductors is a market leader in the development and manufacture of contactless card technology and has a second-to-none track record in its commitment to providing high-quality, leading edge components. Philips Semiconductors was the obvious choice."

Philips Semiconductors has already applied the contactless card technology to other industries, including vehicle immobilizers, phone cards and public transport ticketing. Philips Semiconductors has been working with HP for some time to develop the transponder chip for the tape cartridges, which is another application for RFID technology expected to reach very high volumes in the future.

"We are very proud to work with Hewlett-Packard on this new technology, as the Ultrium format is an absolute milestone in the data storage industry", said Dirk Morgenroth, marketing manager for Identification, Philips Semiconductors. "We have once again proven our leadership in the RFID market with this new high-volume application and bring HP the performance advantages that make the difference in a business-critical application such as storage."

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier based on Dataquest's 1998 report^*). Philips Semiconductors is a leader with a proven reputation in the development and production of high security controller ICs and contactless smart card ICs as well as in components for radio frequency identification. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by regional application labs. Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing its home page at http://www.semiconductors.philips.com

*) Based on Vendor Revenue from Shipments of Total Semiconductors Worldwide according to Dataquest's 1998 Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share report published in May, 1999