Digi-Key Corporation and Ember today announced the signing of a global distribution agreement by which Digi-Key will market Ember’s ZigBee compliant networking systems worldwide. Digi-Key is one of the world’s fastest growing distributors of electronic components, currently shipping products to more than 140 countries around the globe. Ember is a leading provider of networking systems, with the highest number of customer deployments worldwide.
Products include Ember’s EM250 System-on-Chip and EM260 ZigBee Co-Processor as well as InSight development kits for both platforms. Digi-Key will market Ember’s products through both its print and online catalogs with the distribution agreement enabling Digi-Key to fulfill both the design and production quantity needs of its far-reaching customer base.
“Ember’s products will significantly enhance Digi-Key’s wireless semiconductor portfolio,” said Mark Larson, Digi-Key’s president and COO, “and I am certain these products will be of great interest and appeal to our customers.”
The EM250 is an 802.15.4/ZigBee compliant semiconductor system that integrates a programmable microprocessor, RF radio, network protocol stack and memory into a tiny, single-chip solution (7mm on a side). It offers companies building ZigBee-enabled products dramatic reductions in a component size, cost and power consumption, and increased range due to its very high sensitivity. Moreover, the chip’s diminutive size and power needs enable ZigBee capabilities to be embedded in products never before possible.
The EM260, also ZigBee compliant, is the world’s first ZigBee co-processor. It integrates an IEEE 802.15-4 radio, network processor and onboard memory to run a complete ZigBee network protocol stack. It offers Digi-Key customers building ZigBee-enabled products dramatic reductions in component size and cost and power consumption while delivering twice the wireless range of competitive ZigBee radios.
The InSight EM250 and EM260 Development Kits include hardware, network development and debugging software, compiler and EmberZNet mesh network stack for developing embedded applications, all delivered in a single, integrated development environment.
“A global distributor of Digi-Key’s stature carrying Ember’s products is further proof that ZigBee has become the preferred standard for low power, low cost wireless sensor and control networking,” said Ember CEO Robert LeFort. “Ember is the preferred platform of choice for ZigBee developers, and Digi-Key’s marketing muscle and distribution network will make the technology more readily available to a much wider customer base.”
About Digi-Key Corporation
One of the world’s fastest growing distributors of electronic components, Digi-Key has earned its reputation as an industry leader through its total commitment to service and performance. As a full service provider of both prototype/design and production quantities of electronic components, Digi-Key has been ranked #1 for Overall Performance for 15 consecutive years from among the nation’s more than 200 distributors (EE Times Distribution Study/May 2006). Offering more than 700,000 parts from more than 330 quality, name-brand manufacturers, Digi-Key’s commitment to inventory is unparalleled. Access to the company’s broad product offering is available 24/7 on Digi-Key’s top-rated Web site, www.digikey.com.
About Ember Corporation
Ember enables communication among embedded microcontrollers with standards-based wireless mesh networking semiconductors and software. Ember helps its customers to automate home appliances, lower energy consumption in buildings, keep borders and infrastructure secure, and control industrial processes, just to name four of the many diverse applications being developed by Ember’s more than 100 customers. Spun out of MIT in 2001, Ember is headquartered in Boston and has its radio development center in Cambridge, England, and distributors worldwide. Ember is a lead member of the ZigBee Alliance, and its platform is the National Technical Systems’ (NTS) “Golden Suite” for 802.15.4/ZigBee interoperability testing. For more information, please visit www.ember.com.
