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Samsung Heavy Industries Receives Standards Body Approval for LonWorks® "Black Box" for Marine Vessels

(Hong Kong, China - April 21, 2002) - Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Echelon (NASDAQ: ELON) today announced the certification of SHI's LonWorks Voyage Data Recorder by the Det Norse Veritas (DNV) standards setting body for maritime regulations. The DNV approval is the last hurdle for receiving a Wheel Mark certification - a European maritime equivalent of the CE Mark. DNV is also able to grant CE Mark certification. Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs) are similar to the "black box" used in the aviation industry. Samsung's VDR delivers a reliable method for marine vessel manufacturers to comply with international regulations by providing critical voice, telemetry, and vessel operational data to investigators in the case of an accident. VDRs are a key entrée into the lucrative ship control system market for Samsung Heavy Industries (currently one of the top three suppliers with over a 20% market share), and with the European certification, provide an opportunity for Samsung to increase its worldwide market share.

"The LonWorks platform is a key component in our strategy to move into the European passenger ship market - the world's largest and most lucrative," said Dr. Seuk-Kyung Sung, vice president & Ph.D., Digital Business Team, Samsung Heavy Industries Co, Ltd. "We chose to use the LonWorks platform for the VDRs because it not only provides the robustness and reliability that international maritime laws dictate, but also allows us to come to market faster and at lower cost than our competitors."

Dr. Seuk-Kyung Sung added, "Additionally, Samsung Heavy Industries has a focus on the Integrated System concept. We use satellite communications to tie our Integrated Control & Monitoring System (ICMS) and Integrated Navigation System (INS) products into a unified system that we call the Integrated System. Because of its widespread adoption, robustness, reliability, applicability for many types of applications and our experience working with it, we are moving both the ICMS and INS products to the LonWorks platform." Samsung's Digital Business Team, also a member of I.S.E.S. (International Ship Electrical and Engineering Service Association), plans to organize a worldwide sales team, support alliances and service network in support of the Integrated System.

The International Maritime Organization established a regulation stipulating that by July 1st 2002, all new ships must be equipped with Voyage Data Recording systems. Additionally, existing ships that use European ports must have VDRs. All passenger ships, including RO-RO and ferries, are considered vessels with a priority need for VDRs in light of tragedies that have resulted in loss of life in the European passenger ferry industry.

According to Lawrence Chan, Echelon's vice president of Asia/Pacific, "Samsung is proving through market growth and strategic direction, the flexibility and reliability of the LonWorks platform that Echelon created. SHI's experience also shows that products and systems can get to market faster and less expensively with the best technology - and we believe that technology is LonWorks."

About Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs)
In 2000 the International Maritime Organization (IMO) instituted requirements for passenger ships, ferries and cargo vessels to be equipped with voyage data recorders (VDR). As a result, L-3 Aviation Recorders (L-3AR), a subsidiary of L-3 Communications, has developed a Hardened Voyage Recorder (HVR) for the maritime market. This product records a range of data and audio and is fitted in a special Crash-Protected Memory Unit (CPMU) with a device to aid in locating it in the event of a catastrophic incident. L-3AR's Audio Acquisition Microphone Mixer (AAMM) has a PCI BUS interface and resides in the PC used by the VDR to process data. Like the black boxes carried on aircraft, VDRs enable accident investigators to review procedures and instructions in the moments before an incident and help to identify the cause of any accident.

About Wheel Mark
In the ship building industry, Wheel Mark is the functional equivalent of the CE Mark or UL Listing in the electronics industry. Korean ship builders seek the Wheel Mark certification to enter the European market, which is the largest market for passenger vessels in the world. In the ship building industry, it is specified as MED (Marine Equipment Directive). The Wheel Mark certification is awarded once a system meets MED requirements.
Det Norse Veritas, the Classification Society of Norway, is a certifying organization for Wheel Mark and is considered one of the most prestigious classification societies in Europe.

About Samsung Heavy Industries
Samsung Heavy Industries, a key member of Korea's Samsung Group, is a highly integrated organization that delivers a broad range of services in the shipbuilding industry. SHI consists of three complementary sectors - Shipbuilding & Offshore Division, Digital Control System and Construction Division.

The fusion of these three branches allows SHI to deliver results that are streamlined, efficient, and of the highest caliber. In the Shipbuilding & Offshore Division, SHI concentrates on the production of a variety of products: commercial and value-added ships, offshore vessels and structures, as well as cargo and material handing facilities. The Construction Division specializes in civil and plant work, architecture, project development and environment and energy facilities. Lastly, the Digital Control Systems Division focuses on integrated automation and navigation systems.

About Echelon Corporation
Echelon Corporation is the creator of the LonWorks platform, the world's most widely used standard for connecting everyday devices such as appliances, thermostats, air conditioners, electric meters, and lighting systems to each other and to the Internet. Echelon's hardware and software products enable manufacturers and integrators to create smart devices and systems that lower cost, increase convenience, improve service, and enhance productivity, quality, and safety. Thousands of companies have developed and installed more than 18 million LonWorks based devices into homes, buildings, factories, trains, and other systems worldwide.

The protocol underlying LonWorks networks and the signaling used by Echelon's power line and free topology transceivers have both been adopted as standards by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Echelon is also a founding member of the LonMark® Interoperability Association, an open industry forum of hundreds of leading manufacturers, integrators, and users dedicated to promoting the use of interoperable LonWorks devices. More information is available at http://www.LonMark.org. Further information regarding Echelon can be found at http://www.echelon.com.

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Echelon, LonWorks, LonMark, the LonMark logo, and the Echelon logo are trademarks of Echelon Corporation registered in the United States and other countries. Bringing the Internet to Life, i.LON, and LNS are trademarks of Echelon Corporation. Other marks belong to their respective holders.

This press release may contain statements relating to future plans, events or performance. Such statements may involve risks and uncertainties, including the timing and level of customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for Echelon's products and services, the actual degree of flexibility, reliability, robustness and applicability that users of Echelon products may experience, and other risks identified in Echelon's SEC filings. Actual results, effect on earnings, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Echelon undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Contact Information

Press Contact:

 

Steve Nguyen
Echelon Corporation
+1-408-938-5272
qnguyen@echelon.com

Mr. In-Woong Kang
Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.
VDR Marketing Dept.
+82-31-229-1282
iwkang@samsung.co.kr

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