Press Release
March 30, 2004 For Immediate Release

B&B Electronics Teams with Ember Corporation on Zigbee Wireless

Ottawa, IL – B&B Electronics, Ottawa, Illinois, has partnered with Ember Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts, to provide module assemblies and distribution services for Ember and its customers. B&B will also be developing its own product solutions for its customers based upon Ember’s technologies.

Ember Corporation has developed the EmberNet embedded networking software and development tools. EmberNet is a low frequency self-organizing, self-healing wireless embedded networking platform supporting the forthcoming ZigBee network standard. It produces networks that are reliable, flexible, secure, and easy to use. EmberNet contains support for mesh-, star-, and hybrid-networks. It can be used to monitor, manage and secure everything from bridges to office buildings to truckloads of frozen fish.

“We believe that applications and solutions based on Ember’s wireless technology have tremendous potential in the industrial and commercial marketplace,” said Don Wiencek, President of B&B Electronics. “We are thrilled to be part of this leading edge technology and company. We believe that our unique engineering and manufacturing strengths and broad customer base provides Ember with a great partner for rapidly deploying their technology, as well as providing our customers with new tools to address their ever increasing data communication challenges.”

“Ember's device-networking technology fits perfectly in B&B Electronics' product line. Our customers find wireless communications enticing, but sometimes hit roadblocks in the implementation,” stated B&B Business Development Director Mike Fahrion. “The environments our customers work in are tough for RF communication, and the demands for robust communications exceeds most wireless applications. Ember's unique mesh networking strategy fixes the real-world problems of wireless communications for our customers

About B&B Electronics: B&B Electronics Mfg. Co. is a leading manufacturer of data communication products for industrial automation, retail services and building control fields. The company was founded in 1981 and has 94 employees at its headquarters in Ottawa, Illinois. They serve over 50,000 customers from all parts of the world. A wholly owned sales and service facility, B&B Electronics Ltd., is located in County Galway, Ireland, serving Europe, Africa and the Middle East. B&B Electronics Mfg. Co. is a subsidiary of Avtek Corporation, a privately held company in Providence, RI. Main website: www.bb-elec.com.

About Ember Corporation: Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Ember Corporation is a privately held company with investments from Polaris Venture Partners, GrandBanks Capital, Dr. Robert Metcalfe, DFJ New England, Stata Venture Partners, RRE Ventures and DFJ ePlanet. It is focused on enhancing sensing and control products through wireless connectivity. More information may be found at www.ember.com.

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