Sigma Designs and Ralink Announce 802.11n Wi-Fi Collaboration to Advance Wireless Home Electronics Connectivity

Sigma Designs (Nasdaq:SIGM), a leading provider of system-on-chip (SoC) solutions used to deliver entertainment and control throughout the home, and Ralink Technology Corporation (TSE:3534), a leading supplier of 802.11n chipsets for wireless communications, today announced their cooperative relationship resulting in the availability of 802.11n Wi-Fi-enabled reference designs. These advanced and feature-rich reference designs enable rapid deployment of wirelessly networked consumer electronic products including Networked Media Players, Blu-ray players and more. Product demonstrations are available at this week’s CES 2010 Show, Thursday, January 7 through Saturday, January 9 at Sigma’s hospitality suite located at the Las Vegas Hilton, Suite #2990.

"Sigma is leading the drive to connect consumer entertainment products. In addition to our highly popular HomePNA and HomePlug solutions, we continue to expand the range of consumer entertainment products that need to access digital audio and video content within the home. These reference designs will offer our OEM and ODM partners an opportunity to accelerate their deployment of connected products using an 802.11n wireless solution,” said Ken Lowe, VP Strategic Marketing at Sigma.

The Sigma Designs and Ralink collaboration highlights the technological innovations both companies bring to the networked multimedia marketplaces. Both companies focus on the development of robust, feature-rich Integrated Circuits (ICs) and the reference designs were created to leverage the advantages of Ralink’s high-performance 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity and Sigma’s leading system-on-chip (SoC) devices to ultimately accelerate adoption of networked consumer electronics products.

Using Ralink’s 802.11n ICs, and Sigma’s SMP865x Media Processing SoCs, the new Sigma reference designs are capable of multimedia communications and deliver outstanding HD video performance, with guaranteed Quality-of-Service (QoS) over the home wireless Local Area Network (LAN). By leveraging the capabilities of the 802.11n standard, the reference designs provide the highest available wireless performance for sharing of personal music, photographs and other digital content.

"By partnering with Sigma Designs, a clear leader in media processors for consumer products, we continue to expand our home networking reach and bring innovation to the consumer market,” said Dr. Horen Chen, President of Ralink Technology Corporation. "With the ability of our 802.11n ICs to transmit high definition AV content around the home and Sigma’s ability to process multi-standard multimedia content, our solution offers an excellent solution to set-top box OEM’s who are looking to add high performance wireless functionality.”

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements about the anticipated features and benefits of Sigma’s products, growing demand from consumers, projected timing and availability of solutions, and the expected use of Sigma’s products. Actual results could vary materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements included herein as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, worldwide economic conditions, the rate of growth of the market, changes in the customer’s ability or desire to incorporate Sigma’s chipsets and software into its product, consumer reaction to the new products and services being offered, the ability of Sigma to deliver sufficient quantity and quality of its chipsets, alternative offerings by competitors, and the ability of the parties to work together successfully to achieve the rollout of this new product. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Sigma undertakes no obligation to publicly release or otherwise disclose the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements that may be made as a result of events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

About Sigma Designs, Inc.

Sigma Designs is a leading fabless semiconductor provider of highly integrated system-on-chip (SoC) solutions that are used to deliver entertainment and control throughout the home. SoC solutions include media processing, wired and wireless networking, video image processing, and home control along with system software to form the critical components of consumer electronic products that include Internet protocol TV (IPTV) set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, high definition televisions (HDTV), and media communication devices. Headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., Sigma Designs has direct sales representatives in the United States, Brazil, China, Europe (Denmark), Israel, Japan, Taiwan and a third-party distributor in Korea. For more information, please visit Sigma Designs' web site at www.sigmadesigns.com.

About Ralink Corporation

Ralink Technology Corporation is a leading innovator and developer of wireless LAN chipset solutions. Ralink 802.11x chipsets are recognized for superior throughput, extended range and the consistent reliability demanded by Wi-Fi, mobile and embedded applications. These feature-rich chipsets have a high level of chip integration for client and AP solutions for CB, miniPCI, PCIe and USB interfaces, enabling customers to build smaller and more sophisticated mobile wireless products cost-effectively. Ralink's patented MIMObility(TM) technology extends Wi-Fi applications from traditional PC networking to a range of digital multimedia and handheld devices including cell phones, PDAs, cameras, HDTV and video game consoles. Ralink Technology Corporation's headquarters are in Hsinchu, Taiwan, with an R&D center in Cupertino, California. For more information, visit Ralink at www.ralinktech.com or send email to info@ralinktech.com.