Atheros Delivers Advanced Wireless LAN Chipsets for PCs Featuring the New AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor

Throughput, Range and Power Consumption Advantages of Atheros’ 802.11a/b/g and 802.11b/g Solutions Support High-Performance AMD64 Computing Platforms

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- 9/23/2003 -- Atheros Communications, a leading developer of advanced multimode wireless LAN chipsets, today announced its support for the new AMD Athlon™ 64 processor. The Atheros AR5004X universal 802.11a/b/g chipset and the AR5004G 802.11b/g chipset, when combined with the AMD Athlon 64 processor, can provide advanced computing experiences. This new “cinematic computing” platform is capable of handling the most demanding interactive multimedia applications. Combined with the AMD Athlon 64 processor, the Atheros AR5004G 802.11b/g chipset allows notebook systems to stay connected for longer distances, deliver higher throughput and use less power than other wireless devices.

The Atheros Super G™ and Super A/G™ performance enhancement technologies deliver 108Mbps data links with an actual end-user TCP/IP throughput of up to 90Mbps in 802.11a/b/g, 802.11b/g and 802.11a wireless networks. Additionally, the Atheros eXtended Range (XR) technology effectively doubles the range of Wi-Fi products while simultaneously consuming up to 95 percent less power than wireless devices in Centrino-based notebooks. This benchmark shows that PCs based on the new AMD Athlon 64 processor and Atheros’ wireless LAN chipsets can offer higher wireless performance than Intel Centrino processor-based designs.

“With the AMD Athlon 64 processor and Atheros’ wireless LAN chipsets, laptop users can have powerful 64-bit computing with the industry’s most advanced wireless connectivity,” said Craig Barratt, president and chief executive officer of Atheros. “Atheros’ wireless LAN chipsets can offer our shared customers the highest performance available today in any Wi-Fi environment.”

Atheros’ AR5004X dual-band 802.11a/b/g chipset and AR5004G single-band 802.11b/g chipset began shipping in volume on Sept. 15. The AR5004X chipset provides universal wireless connectivity to any 802.11 network, anywhere in the world. Support of all major wireless networking standards ensures compatibility with future WLAN deployments. The AR5004G chipset provides 802.11g functionality and performance for homes and small offices, giving users a flexible upgrade path for legacy 802.11b networks.

“Atheros’commitment to improving throughput and range while reducing power consumption makes them an ideal collaborator for AMD,” said Tim Wright, director, desktop marketing, AMD’s Computation Products Group. “When the Super G and Super A/G technologies are coupled with the extreme performance of the AMD Athlon 64 processor all users benefit. Prosumers, PC enthusiasts and gamers working on graphically rich files or accessing high-quality digital video on the go will all benefit from the extra throughput capacity.”

The AR5004G supports 802.11b and 802.11g in the 2.4-GHz band from 2.300 to 2.500 GHz. The AR5004X adds support for 802.11a in the 5-GHz band from 4.900 to 5.850 GHz, thus enabling tri-mode or universal WLAN products. The AR5004X meets international requirements for WLAN operation based on the draft 802.11h and 802.11j standards. The only products with CE marking for 5.47 GHz European operation and TELEC certification for 4.900 GHz Japanese operation are based on Atheros chipsets. In addition, the chipsets support emerging security standards such as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and draft 802.11i Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with no performance reduction, as well as draft 802.11e Quality of Service enhancements. For more information about the Atheros AR5004 family of chipsets, please visit www.atheros.com.

About Atheros Communications, Inc.
Atheros Communications is a leading developer of networking technologies for secure, high-performance wireless local area networks. As an innovator in advanced 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. For more information, visit www.atheros.com or send email to info@atheros.com .

Atheros, the Atheros logo, Super G, Super A/G, Wake-on-Wireless and Wake-on-Theft are trademarks of Atheros Communications, Inc. AMD, AMD Athlon, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.