Atheros Communications, Sigma Designs and Syabas Launch Two New Reference    Designs for Wireless Digital Media Adapters and DVD Players

The New Reference Designs Will Enable the Market’s First Digital Media Adapters That Fully Support Wireless Video Streaming

COMPUTEX CONFERENCE, Taipei, Taiwan, June 1, 2004—Atheros Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHR), a leading developer of advanced wireless LAN (WLAN) chipsets, along with Sigma Designs, a leader in digital media processors for consumer appliances, and Syabas, a leading middleware R&D solution provider for broadband set-top boxes, video-on-demand, audio-on-demand, instant messaging and web browser on TV, today introduced the Envision 8550W and 8620LW reference designs for wireless-enabled digital media adapter and DVD player applications. The reference designs will be demonstrated in the Atheros exhibit at Computex, Grand Hyatt Taipei, Suite 1228, from June 1-5.

Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) will be able to use the low-cost Envision 8550W reference design or the high-end Envision 8620LW reference design to quickly develop and bring to market new digital media adapters, DVD players and media gateways. The Envision 8550W is an advanced audio/video solution that is capable of wirelessly delivering a wide variety of content such as music, photos and movies from a Windows PC, media gateway, or Internet connection to a TV or audio system throughout a home. The Envision 8620LW reference design adds support for HDTV-quality video with Windows Media Video 9 and MPEG2 HDTV enhancements.

The Envision 8550W and 8620LW reference designs use the Atheros AR5005AP-X and AR5004X 802.11a/b/g chipsets and performance boosting Super AG® feature set, enabling the market’s first digital media adapters that can fully support wireless video streaming. 802.11a technology is better suited to streaming video because the 5-GHz band, in which 802.11a-based products operate, is less crowded and has up to 24 channels. This compares to just 3 channels in the 2.4-GHz band. New consumer products based on the Envision 8550W and 8620LW reference designs will have more advanced capabilities because they can deliver the performance needed for wirelessly streaming video throughout the home environment.

“These new reference designs will help CE manufacturers design and easily integrate wireless LAN capabilities into more devices such as digital media adapters and DVD players,” said Colin Macnab, vice president of marketing and business development for Atheros Communications. “Atheros is committed to partnering with companies like Sigma Designs and Syabas to help its customers expand the reach of Wi-Fi technology into new consumer markets. People will benefit from being able to use these products to manage and access their multimedia content more easily around the home.”

In addition to integrating Atheros’ WLAN technology, the Envision 8550W and 8620LW reference designs also include a digital media processor from Sigma Designs and digital media adapter software from Syabas. The Syabas software pulls together the Sigma Designs and Atheros platform to provide a complete end-to-end solution for the consumer to manage music, photos and video files on their PC and to access this content remotely on a TV. The software supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) A/V for easy user setup.

The Envision 8550W and 8620LW reference designs with Atheros’ WLAN solution supports Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and the latest WLAN security standards in hardware, without performance reduction. The latest hardware-supported standards include Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2) and 802.11i Enhanced Security using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Atheros’ wireless chipset also supports the Wireless Media Extensions (WME) Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities defined in the IEEE 802.11e draft standard. For even greater performance, the Atheros AR5005AP-X and AR5004X 802.11a/b/g chipsets feature Super AG® technology, which utilizes adaptive bandwidth technology to deliver over 60 Mbps of performance-on-demand throughput based on channel availability.

Envision EM8550W and 8620LW Reference Designs Availability

The Envision 8550W and 8620LW reference designs are available to ODM and OEM customers. Digital Media Adapters and DVD Players based on the Envision 8550W and 8620LW are expected to begin shipping in the third quarter, in time for the holiday season

About Sigma Designs, Inc.

Sigma Designs (Nasdaq: SIGM) specializes in silicon-based MPEG decoding for streaming video, progressive DVD playback, and advanced digital set-top boxes. The company's award-winning REALmagic® Video Streaming Technology is used in both commercial and consumer applications providing highly integrated solutions for high-quality decoding of MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., the company also has sales offices in China, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.sigmadesigns.com.

About Syabas Technology Inc.

Syabas is the leading middleware provider for digital home entertainment devices.  Syabas innovates digital technology that brings various streaming medias, digital videos, Internet, cyber communications and much more to the consumer electronic player. For more information, visit company’s website at http://www.syabas.com.

About Atheros Communications, Inc.

Atheros Communications is a leading developer of semiconductor system solutions for wireless communications products. Atheros combines its wireless systems expertise with high-performance radio frequency, mixed signal and digital semiconductor design skills to provide highly integrated chipsets that are manufacturable on low-cost, standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes. Atheros technology is being used by a broad base of leading customers, including personal computer and networking equipment manufacturers. For more information, visit www.atheros.com or send email to info@atheros.com.

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Atheros, the Atheros logo and Super AG® are trademarks of Atheros Communications, Inc.  All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including but not limited to the features, performance, capabilities and benefits of the Envision 8550W and 8620LW reference designs and the products of Atheros, Sigma Designs, and Syabas incorporated in or integrated with these reference designs; the expected development of end-user consumer products based on the reference designs; the ability of manufacturers to design and integrate wireless LAN capabilities into consumer devices; and the expansion of wireless LAN technologies into new markets such as consumer products, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products and technological advances, manufacturing difficulties, difficulties in development of enhanced and new products and difficulties in the integration of wireless LAN technologies with consumer products, Atheros’ ability to market the Envision 8550W or 8620LW, whether wireless LAN technology will be successfully adopted in consumer products markets, and other risks detailed in Atheros’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 as filed with the SEC and from time to time in Atheros’ SEC filings. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Atheros disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

For press and analyst inquiries contact: Cheryl Patstone, 408-773-5344, cheryl@atheros.com or Greg Wood, A&R Partners, 650-762-2838, gwood@arpartners.com.