Atheros Awarded U.S. Department of Energy Grant to Develop Low-Power, Smart Grid Solutions with its AMP Powerl

Atheros Awarded U.S. Department of Energy Grant to Develop Low-Power, Smart Grid Solutions with its AMP Powerline Technology

Atheros receives $4.5 million grant to develop technology for smart grid applications based on the HomePlug Green PHY Specification and interoperable with IEEE 1901

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 15, 2010 — Atheros Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHR), a global leader in innovative technologies for wireless and wired communications, today announced that it has executed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) under which it will receive up to $4.5 million in grant funding to develop powerline chips designed to provide two-way data communications over existing AC wiring, a vital element for Smart Grid applications. The chips – based on the Green PHY specification now approved and published by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance – will meet the low-power, high-reliability requirements of the utilities industry and comply with the IEEE 1901 global networking standard.

Two-way data communications among smart meters and in-home systems and appliances (such as air conditioning, water heaters, pool pumps, and washers and dryers) over powerline-based Home Area Networks allows home owners to monitor and control their electricity consumption and take advantage of “time-of-day” pricing incentives to lower energy costs. Atheros’ Green PHY-based powerline technology also enables utilities to better manage the overall electric grid for increased reliability and efficiency through new capabilities such as load shaping, demand response, distributed generation and fault location and isolation.

Facts/Highlights:

• The grant is made under the U.S. Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) program, a national program established to accelerate the manufacture, purchase and installation of existing and emergent Smart Grid technologies; especially those that can be applied in innovative ways within the existing electricity delivery system to provide integrated and economically-feasible solutions. Atheros, the industry leader in powerline technology, is the only semiconductor company chosen to receive SGIG funding.

• Atheros will match the initial $4.5 million investment to develop the industry’s first HomePlug Green PHY-based chip. The solution will feature dramatically lower power consumption (75% power reduction over current HomePlug AV solutions), robust coverage, and the extended temperature range needed for outdoor meters. With scalable data rates from 250 Kbps to 10 Mbps, the Atheros chip will enable communications across existing electrical wiring including 120/240 VAC or 24 VAC low-voltage wiring to thermostats.

• Atheros was the first to introduce HomePlug powerline solutions with the extended temperature range necessary for outdoor temperature extremes faced by smart meters. Atheros’ powerline technology is now used in several brands of deployed smart meters and is in design in a variety of new meters. Atheros has developed UART serial communications interfaces for its current HomePlug devices and a PL10 UART Smart Grid Enablement Kit to allow Green PHY prototype testing by companies designing smart meters, smart appliances, programmable communicating thermostats, electric vehicle and charging stations, ZigBee bridges, remote metering devices, solar panels and other energy-related applications.

• Atheros is a key contributor to HomePlug’s Green PHY specification, which becomes an integral part of an ecosystem of interoperable powerline technologies built upon the widely deployed HomePlug AV and IEEE 1901 global standards. This ecosystem will enable communications between the home’s Smart Grid-enabled systems and appliances and the home’s digital network, enabling a host of new applications for the consumer as well as utility companies.

Supporting Quotes:

• “This investment will help accelerate our efforts to develop a portfolio of Green PHY products that is based on carrier- and consumer-proven AMP powerline technology, already in use by tens of millions of households in most major geographies,” said Todd Antes, vice president of marketing, digital home of Atheros Communications, Inc. “By meeting HomePlug’s Green PHY specification, our Green PHY-based solutions will be able to interoperate with the large installed base of HomePlug AV devices and future IEEE 1901-based products.”

• In the June 2009 announcement of the U.S. Department of Energy’s intention to invest $3.9 billion in Smart Grid technologies, Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu said, “These investments will be used to develop a smart, strong and secure electrical grid that will help integrate renewable resources onto the grid, deliver power more reliably and effectively with less environmental impact, and create new jobs across the country. By investing in updating the grid now, we will lower utility bills for American families and businesses, lessen our dependence on oil, and help advance a clean energy future for the nation.”

Additional Resources:

• Link to Atheros Powerline products page: http://www.atheros.com/pt/plc/plc_index.html

• Atheros Green PHY Whitepaper: http://tiny.cc/5x7sa

• U.S. Department of Energy press release: http://www.energy.gov/news2009/7503.htm

• HomePlug Powerline Alliance website: http://www.homeplug.org/home

• IEEE 1901 Working Group website: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1901/