SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 24, 2001--The Atheros AR5000 chipset has been selected as a finalist in the wireless hardware category
for PC Magazine's "Innovation in Infrastructure" award. All the finalist products were judged as among "the most innovative and
technologically intriguing" of the year. Other vendors include IBM, Hewlett Packard, EMC and Sun.
Atheros' AR5000 is the world's first two chip, all-CMOS, end-to-end solution for IEEE 802.11a, 5-GHz wireless LANs that incorporates
a complete "radio-on-a-chip" (RoC). This groundbreaking technology opens the door to vast new possibilities, as high-speed wireless
data becomes widely available in offices, homes, schools, and in public places such as airports and hotels.
Compliant with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 5-GHz wireless LAN standard, the Atheros AR5000
chipset operates at speeds up to 54 Mbps, representing a five times improvement in data rates over currently shipping IEEE 802.11b,
2.4-GHz products. In addition, the AR5000 solution offers speeds up to 72 Mbps in Atheros' "Turbo" mode.
"We are pleased that PC Magazine has recognized a totally new approach to technology that will help drive the future of wireless
communications," said Mark Bercow, vice president of Marketing and Business Development of Atheros. "Atheros aims to make possible
the kind of ubiquitous 'in building' wireless connectivity that people have been waiting for."
PC Magazine editors chose twenty-eight products that "exemplify the best and most advanced of today's network infrastructure technologies
and provide a window into the future of this critical area of computing." The winners will be announced on Tuesday, May 8, at the
NetWorld+Interop conference in Las Vegas and posted on www.pcmag.com.
PC Magazine (www.pcmag.com) is the premier connection point for 6.7 million technology buyers making brand decisions for their company.
PC Magazine's editorial mission is to analyze, evaluate and review all the technology solutions that build a modern business. Unlike any
other publication, PC Magazine's content is obsessively focused on providing the information that its readers need in order to make an
informed vendor selection. To meet its readers needs for buying information that is as current as it is comprehensive, PC Magazine
publishes 22 times a year in print and continuously online at pcmag.com. PC Magazine also delivers its brand promise across multiple
media platforms including: PC Magazine Custom Events, PC Magazine Custom Research, eNewsletters, eSeminars, Ziff Davis Custom Media and
broadcast relationships with CNNfn and the College Television Network.
On April 23, 2001, Atheros announced the close of its third round of financing in the amount of $66.7 million with Fidelity Management &
Research Company as the lead investor. Atheros Communications was founded in May 1998 by leading experts in radio and signal processing
from Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, and private industry. The Company's mission is to provide wireless
networking technologies that drive transparent connections between all computing, communications, audio and video devices. Funded by venture
capital firms August Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Foundation Capital and New Enterprise Associates, Atheros has raised a
total of $98.3 million in three rounds of funding. The Company currently employs over 120 people and has filed more than 40 wireless technology
patents.
Thomas Mahon, 925.937.4921, tmahon@ncal.verio.com or
Jonathan Bass, A&R Partners, 650.762.2822, jbass@arpartners.com.
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