LEUVEN MINDGATE

Essensium NV and Coronis Systems join forces


NEWS RELEASE
Coronis Systems, an Elster Company, and Essensium N.V., an IMEC spin-off, join forces to develop the next generation ultra-low-power, long range Wavenis® System-on-Chip solution
Montpellier, France and Leuven, Belgium, November 08, 2007 - Coronis Systems a provider of ultra-low power wireless OEM solutions for both short range and long range wireless sensor, control and metering networks and Essensium N.V., a fabless semiconductor provider of low power System-on-Chip ASIC solutions, today announced an agreement to collaborate on the next generation Wavenis technology transceiver chip.
Wavenis technology is the cutting edge communication platform developed by Coronis Systems to address the unique needs for wireless metering and sensor networking and is currently deployed in more than 1.3 million devices worldwide. The largest Wavenis network in operation covers 100,000 nodes and is the largest of its kind. At the core of Wavenis technology is it's highly optimized wireless communications protocol combined with an advanced sub-GHz RF transceiver.
The reason that Coronis has joined forces with Essensium is to complete the development of its next generation wireless chip, Essensium's strong background in developing wireless low power system-on-chip devices and its expertise working with the current generation Wavenis chip made Essensium the ideal choice. 'Extreme low power is an essential element to our technology. The selection of Essensium for its core expertise in low power wireless system-on-chip design means we get to work with a partner that has the ability to help us meet our needs and expectations', said Laurent Maleysson, General Manager, Coronis Systems.

Essensium will integrate an upgraded Wavenis wireless transceiver and an innovative low power 32-bit RISC controller into a new single chip solution. The embedded RISC controller will run the Wavenis communications protocol stack and on-chip embedded memory is available for a customer's program code and data. Johan Danneels, CEO of Essensium, said: 'Knowing that Wavenis enjoys such a strong reputation among industrial companies with extreme demands in terms of range and power, I'm very pleased that we can apply our expertise to develop the next generation Wavenis device.'
In September 2007, the Wavenis Open Standard Alliance was launched. The Wavenis-OSA is designed to foster both innovation and cooperation amongst its members. Essensium's participation as one of the 16 founding members of this Alliance, along with Coronis Systems, is a strong message with regards to its belief in the strength of Wavenis technology and its ability to become a future wireless standard for WSNs.

About Essensium NV
Essensium is a fabless semiconductor company located in Leuven, Belgium, that provides system-on-chip products and design services to original equipment manufacturers, design houses, and ASSP suppliers. Essensium was created as a spin-off of the nanotechnology research center IMEC in Leuven. Essensium's skills and technology focus on custom silicon for portable, wireless, and low power applications. In addition, Essensium is also working towards the development of standard products for wireless sensor networks and active RFID applications. For more information on Essensium, please visit http://www.essensium.com.

About Coronis Systems
Coronis Systems is a leading global designer and developer of ultra-low-power (ULP) and long-range wireless solutions. Based on its Wavenis® wireless connectivity platform, the company offers a complete line of products and services for OEMs and system integrators. Coronis products meet the technical, operational and cost requirements of ultra low-powered, long-range UHF RFID, Wireless Sensor Network, Smart Metering and M2M applications. The company was recently acquired by the Elster Group, the world's largest metering company and supplier of high quality integrated metering and utilization solutions. Coronis has offices in France, North America and Asia and has over 1,300,000 products deployed worldwide. For more information please visit www.coronis.com.


About Elster Group
Elster Group is the world's leading manufacturer and supplier of highly accurate, high quality, integrated metering and utilization solutions to the gas, electricity and water industries. In addition, through its subsidiary Ipsen International, it is the leading global manufacturer of high-level thermo-chemical treatment equipment.
The group has over 9,000 staff, operations in 38 countries and serves over 115 markets around the world. Elster's high quality products and systems reflect the wealth of knowledge and experience gained from over 170 years of dedication to measuring precious resources and energy. For more information, visit http://www.elster.com.

Press Contact:
Ann Van Obbergen
ESSENSIUM NV
Tel. +32 16-286500
ann.van-obbergen@essensium.com


Christophe Dugas
Coronis Systems
Tel. +33 4 67226671
christophe.dugas@coronis.com

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