Atmel to license ExeginZigBee stacks for wireless smart-grid applications

Atmel, a leader in microcontroller (MCU) and touch technology solutions, announced the company has signed an agreement with Exegin Technologies Limited, a leading supplier of ZigBee® network stacks, to jointly offer integrated wireless communications solutions for smart grid applications. In this agreement, Exegin will license its ZigBee networking stacks to Atmel for use in a variety of solutions for smart grid applications in wireless mesh networks. The joint collaboration will enable smart metering customers to enjoy a full range of integrated smart metering solutions in the 2.4GHz and sub-GHz bands. "With millions of Exegin stacks and Atmel transceivers already deployed in the smart grid network, and with an increasing demand towards integrated ARM® processor-based solutions, we believe our customers will greatly benefit from our joint efforts," said Kourosh Boutorabi, Sr. Director of Smart Energy Products, Atmel Corporation. "The combined solutions will result in a comprehensive feature set along with industry-leading performance and superior reliability." "We are excited to be a strategic collaborator with Atmel," said Leslie Mulder, President, Exegin Technologies Limited. "One of our joint reference designs, featuring an Atmel SAM9 microprocessor, AT86RF212 and AT86RF233 transceivers, with a ZigBee SE1.x-compliant solution and SE2.0 development solution, is extremely successful among our customers. We plan to add additional joint reference designs including an Atmel SAM4-based ZigBee SE 2.0 solution, which will be available in Q1 2013. We look forward to continuing a strong collaboration with Atmel, as we feel we're just getting started." Atmel Exegin Technologies