Atmel Receives ZigBee Smart Energy Certification for BitCloud Software Stack

SAN JOSE, California -

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) today announced that the BitCloud(TM) ZigBee(R) PRO stack has been awarded ZigBee Smart Energy product certification. BitCloud Smart Energy offers utility companies a secure, proven and easy-to-use technology for wireless home area networks (HANs) by connecting in-premise devices, such as meters, thermostats and smart appliances, to each other and to wide area energy distribution and control networks. ZigBee Smart Energy enables utility companies and individual homeowners to manage energy usage, control residential peak demand and reduce overall environmental impact.

BitCloud SE is a ready-to-use framework for rapid development and certification of ZigBee Smart Energy devices. It provides the underlying security and protocol stacks to ensure full interoperability and seamless communication across the HAN and comes with a complete reference implementation for ZigBee Smart Energy device types.

“The certification of Atmel’s BitCloud Smart Energy further expands options for ZigBee Smart Energy product developers,” said Benno Ritter, Vice President of Marketing for the ZigBee Alliance. “BitCloud Smart Energy joins a growing list of ZigBee Smart Energy solutions specifically focused on creating the Smart Grid through home area networks.”

“BitCloud SE has been certified by National Technical Systems (NTS) using our high performance, low power AT86RF231 RF-transceiver, in combination with our newest generation of ATxmega256A3 8-bit microcontrollers,” said Magnus Pedersen, Marketing Director for MCU Wireless Solutions, Atmel Corporation. “Devices in the AVR(R) XMEGA(TM) microcontroller family are ideal to run low-power wireless designs, simultaneous with ZigBee stack and profiles for end-user applications.”

“NTS is pleased to see manufacturers, such as Atmel, use NTS’s Smart Energy Test Harness, allowing them to quickly and easily obtain a certification for their ZigBee Smart Energy products,” said Osman Sakr, Chief Technology Officer of NTS. “We are looking forward to helping Atmel and other manufacturers bring their products to market to assist in the national development of a smart grid.”

BitCloud SE applications can be deployed on a standalone microcontroller or on a host microcontroller connected to a dedicated ZigBee Smart Energy co-processor. Standalone microcontroller solutions address the need for smaller footprint, low-power devices, such as water meters and thermostats, while the ZigBee co-processor option is targeted at larger devices, including energy service portals, and offers unlimited flexibility in the designer’s choice of host microcontroller. BitCloud SE also comes with a serial protocol and communications library to simplify the development of ZigBee Smart Energy applications on the host.

Availability and Pricing

BitCloud ZigBee PRO, supporting Atmel’s RF transceivers and microcontrollers, is available for free download at www.atmel.com/bitcloud.

Information

More information about Atmel’s BitCloud ZigBee PRO stack is available at www.atmel.com/bitcloud.

For further information on MCU Wireless, visit www.atmel.com/wireless.

ZigBee: Control your world

ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a non-profit association of more than 300 member companies driving development of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes world-wide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in consumer electronic, energy, home, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit: www.ZigBee.org.

About NTS

National Technical Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of engineering and testing service to the defense, aerospace, telecommunications, automotive and high technology markets. Through a world-wide network of resources, NTS provides full life-cycle product integrity support, offering world class design engineering, compliance, testing, certification, quality registration and program management. For additional information about NTS, visit our website at www.ntscorp.com or call 800-794-0926.

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry’s broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets.

(c) 2009 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), Atmel logo and combinations thereof, AVR(R) and others are registered trademarks, XMEGA(TM), BitCloud(TM) and others are trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Press Contacts: Clive Over, Public Relations Director Tel: +1-408-436-4305, Email: clive.over@atmel.com

Source: Atmel Corporation

Clive Over, Public Relations Director of Atmel Corporation, +1-408-436-4305, clive.over at atmel.com