Atheros Products Receive First Wi-Fi™  802.11g Certification

Wi-Fi Alliance Certification Ensures 802.11g Product Interoperability

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 8, 2003—Atheros Communications, the market share leader of advanced wireless LAN (WLAN) chipsets, today announced that the Atheros universal 802.11a/b/g wireless network adapter and the Proxim ORiNOCO 802.11g access point based on Atheros technology are included in the first group of products to have received the Wi-Fi™   CERTIFIED seal of interoperability. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ratified the much-anticipated 802.11g standard on June 13, 2003.

The Wi-Fi Alliance rigorously tests interoperability of WLAN products based on IEEE 802.11 specifications. The Atheros universal 802.11a/b/g wireless network adapter and Proxim ORiNOCO 802.11g access point are included in the Wi-Fi Alliance’s new interoperability test bed for 802.11g products, ensuring that future Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products will be compatible with Atheros 802.11g technology.

The Wi-Fi Alliance seal of interoperability on Atheros reference designs helps pave the way for quick certification of 802.11g and universal 802.11a/b/g products by Atheros’ retail, enterprise, PC OEM, and consumer electronics customers.

“Now that the IEEE Standards Board has finalized the 802.11g standard, certification is the industry’s next step in ensuring product interoperability,” said Russ Craig, research director of semiconductor division at the Aberdeen Group. “Wi-Fi certification of Atheros’ 802.11g products will help usher in a new class of 54 megabits-per-second wireless products that provide over four times the speeds of 802.11b products and backward compatibility to the installed base of legacy 802.11b devices.”

Products compliant with the IEEE 802.11g standard achieve greater performance than IEEE 802.11b products because they utilize an advanced modulation technology called Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), the same technology that Atheros pioneered when it introduced 802.11a products to the market in 2001.

“High performance 802.11g and 802.11a/b/g products from Atheros are rapidly displacing competitor’s legacy 802.11b solutions in business and consumer markets,” said Craig Barratt, president and chief executive officer of Atheros. “This trend will continue as more users become aware of the higher performance of 802.11g and universal 802.11a/b/g networks, which also provide backward compatibility for legacy equipment. The Wi-Fi Alliance’s certification means that consumers can expect product interoperability when buying wireless LAN products based on Atheros’ 802.11g technology.”

Additionally, the wireless network adapter and access point designs have also completed Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) interoperability testing, enabling the industry’s most robust wireless security when used with other Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products that feature WPA-level security.

Product certification testing was conducted at the Wi-Fi Alliance’s San Jose, Calif., laboratory. For more information about Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™  products, please visit http://www.weca.net/OpenSection/certified_products.asp?TID=2.

About Atheros Communications, Inc.

Atheros Communications is the leading developer of networking technologies for secure, high-performance wireless local area networks. As the industry innovator and market-share leader in multi-mode wireless solutions compliant with the IEEE 802.11 specifications, Atheros is driving transparent connections among electronic devices in the office, home and on the road. Atheros technology is being used by many of the world's leading wireless equipment manufacturers including 3Com, Accton, Actiontec, Acrowave Systems, AIRAYA, Airespace, AirVast Technology, ALPS, Ambit, Aruba Wireless Networks, Askey, ASUS, Avaya, BenQ, Chantry Networks, Contec, CyberTAN, Dacom, Delta Networks, D-Link, Gemtek, Gigabyte Technology, Global Sun Tech, HP, IBM, ICOM, Intel, Intermec, I-O Data, Linksys, NEC, NETGEAR, Nortel, Philips, Proxim, Samsung, Senao, SMC Networks, Sony, Symbol Technologies, TDK, TECOM, Toshiba, Trapeze Networks, USI, W2 Networks, Wistron NeWeb, Z-Com and others. For more information, visit www.atheros.com or send email to info@atheros.com.

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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.

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