Sigma Designs and Qualcomm Atheros to Demonstrate Development Platform for Wi-Fi Display at CES 2012

New Reference Design for OEMs Enables Notebooks, Tablets, Smartphones and Other CE Devices to Extend Video Content to the Big Screen via Set Top Box Devices With Peer-to-Peer Wi-Fi Technology

LAS VEGAS, NV — CES 2012 — Sigma Designs, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIGM), the leader in connected media platforms, today announced a joint Wi-Fi Display / DLNA IPTV reference design with Qualcomm Atheros Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), the networking and connectivity subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated. This new design enables connected media players based on Sigma Media Processors to receive video wirelessly over the emerging Wi-Fi Display™ standard supported by Qualcomm Atheros Wi-Fi devices as well as being interoperable with DLNA enabled devices supporting the appropriate profiles. The companies plan to demonstrate the solution at CES 2012.

The new platform combines Qualcomm Atheros’ 2×2 dual band 802.11n solutions like the AR9342 with Sigma’s highly integrated SMP8670 secure media processor to deliver wireless connectivity directly from Wi-Fi Display or DLNA-enabled notebook or mobile device to a set-top-box. This solution enables consumers to stream multimedia via Wi-Fi Display standard or DLNA standard, as well as access over-the-top services, directly, through their IPTV media player to their TV monitor.

“We are happy to work with Qualcomm Atheros to integrate their Wi-Fi chipset technology with our secure media processors to bring the first generation of Wi-Fi Display solutions to market,” said Thinh Tran, CEO and chairman at Sigma Designs. “This allows millions of notebook, tablet and smartphone users to instantly and wirelessly share content with friends and family on their large screen HDTV in the living room.”

The SMP8670 provides a highly integrated, high-performance, low-cost solution for Connected Media Players, IPTV set-top boxes, hybrid IPTV set-top boxes and IPTV thin clients. The Secure Media Processor architecture offers advanced content protection, supporting a wide variety of Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Conditional Access (CA) solutions.

“We are pleased to work with the Sigma Designs team to enable high-performance Wi-Fi Display solutions for extending content from mobile computing and consumer electronics devices to the big screen via digital media devices,” said Dan Rabinovitsj, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Atheros’ networking business unit. “Our Wi-Fi provides the robust performance and reliability to support smooth transmission of video and other high-latency content and supports the industry’s Wi-Fi Display standard for easy peer-to-peer networking.”

The Qualcomm Atheros AR9342 is a market-proven, advanced solution for adding two-stream, dual-band 802.11n WLAN connectivity to a range of USB connectivity and embedded consumer electronics applications. It supports the emerging Wi-Fi Alliance industry standard, Wi-Fi Display which enables personal and Internet content to be extended from personal screens such as notebooks, tablets and smartphones to the big screen to enhance media experiences.

Availability

The reference design will be available in the first quarter of 2012 for early access customers. Sigma Designs will be demonstrating, by appointment only, the Qualcomm Atheros-based reference design at the 2012 International CES in Las Vegas, N.V. (January 10th – 13th), at the Las Vegas Hilton.