Siemens Tire Monitoring System Being Demonstrated At SAE World Congress

    DETROIT, March 5 Siemens Automotive, one of the world's
leading providers of automotive electronics safety technology, will be
demonstrating its newly developed monitoring system for tire pressure,
temperature and acceleration (TMS) during the 2001 Society of Automotive
Engineers (SAE) World Congress, March 5-8, 2001, Cobo Center, Detroit.

    Universal for all standard Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) tire
makes and models, the Siemens system's receiver and software components will
be utilized on a North American sports utility vehicle (SUV) application being
built this fall.

    Siemens' complete TMS system will make its market debut on a 2002 European
vehicle application.

    "This potentially is one of the best solutions to customer tire concerns
and the impending legislation requiring pressure sensing to be standard on
motor vehicles," said Pat Banas, Siemens Automotive Director of Body
Electronics.  "Unlike several other systems under development in the market,
the Siemens solution measures the pressure, tracks the temperature inside the
tire and measures finite acceleration."

    Smarter than the Average System

    By monitoring a tire's internal temperature, acceleration through rotation
speed, as well as pressure, the Siemens Automotive TMS solution:

    *  allows data specific to each tire to be compared for inconsistencies
within operational parameters;
    *  interval times between data updates can be automatically maximized for
near-real time monitoring or minimized when the vehicle is parked to prolong
battery life; and,
    *  is capable of automatically identifying individual wheel positions when
tires undergo routine maintenance, such as rotation or replacement.

    The Siemens Automotive TMS solution can be integrated into vehicles as a
stand-alone application or synergistically combined with existing Siemens
remote entry and security products.

    The Stand-Alone Solution

    The Siemens stand-alone TMS solution utilizes a pressure sensor with a
transmitter mounted in the rim flange of each wheel.  The sensor can be
adapted to fit a standard OEM rim and allows all areas of the surface to be
used in the tire mounting process.

    Inside the vehicle, a control unit integrated with a receiver and an
internal or external antenna gathers and processes the transmitted pressure,
temperature and acceleration information.

    Synergistic Solution

    In an effort to combat vehicle cost and weight penalties usually
associated with implementing new technologies, the tire monitoring system can
be integrated with existing Siemens remote keyless entry technology.  Using
the same pressure sensor as the stand-alone solution, this cost-effective
approach eliminates the need to redesign existing technology or to install an
additional receiver and electronic control unit.

    Simply installing TMS software into an existing Siemens remote keyless
entry electronic control unit enables its antenna and receiver to be used to
process transmitted tire pressure information, which is then sent across the
vehicle bus to a driver display.

    "The tire pressure information can be displayed as a basic dashboard light
alerting the driver to a developing situation," said Banas.  "Or it can be as
detailed as an overhead console readout complete with tire diagnostic data
including troubled tire location information."

    Combining the functions of the Siemens remote keyless entry system and TMS
maximizes each technology's capabilities to use less hardware and utilize
existing components to create cost advantages.