Atmel Receives ZigBee Smart Energy Certification for BitCloud Software Stack

San Jose, California (ots/PRNewswire) -

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

ots Originaltext: Atmel Corporation
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

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