Sigma’s New Z-Wave Architecture Enables Wireless Home Control to Go Worldwide

Sigma Designs (NASDAQ:SIGM), a leader in digital media processing system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for consumer electronics, today announced the launch of their fourth generation Z-Wave architecture. The ZM4100 Series Modules provide a new generation of home control capability that adds more frequencies, memory, and security to open up new markets on a worldwide basis. A demonstration of the new modules showcasing the global bandwidth and superior interference capability will be shown by Sigma at CEATEC Japan 2009 from October 6 to October 10 at the Manhattan Hotel, suite 705.

Growing Demand for Home Management

The home control market continues to grow, in part due to economic and environmental factors that increase demand for home energy and security management. This becomes increasingly important as many countries are pushing forward with government incentives to increase energy conservation, take advantage of smart metering, and reduce unnecessary strain on power grids.

Though many measures can be taken while we’re at home, there is even greater leverage from increased security and reduced energy output while we are away. With the average commuter in the US workforce driving over 16 miles (equivalent to 26 minutes) to work, it becomes prohibitive to return during the day to check for the unlocked door, lights still burning, and thermostat set too high. At another level, vacation homes become a key target for remotely monitoring energy shut-down and monitoring intrusions.

Echoing this trend, Parks Associates believes the wireless controls market will exceed $3 billion in 2012 – attributing the growth to more companies entering the market with remote monitoring and energy management products.

"The era of electronic home controls has arrived,” said Bill Ablondi, director of home systems research for Parks Associates. "Technological advancements, the migration to IP-based systems, and the entry of key companies are all driving this market.”

The Z-Wave Solution

For the past five years, the Z-Wave wireless home control standard has been providing consumers with the technology to improve their management of energy, security, and general convenience. Z-Wave technology consists of miniature RF control devices that get embedded into various consumer products, along with a specialized mesh network protocol that enables centralized access and control of all these devices. Today, there are more than 300 Z-Wave certified consumer products on the market, providing an end-to-end solution that allows a homeowner to manage and adjust the various appliances within the home.

Moving beyond the home device network, Sigma has introduced Z-Wave over IP technology, which enables complete access to the mesh network of home control devices from anywhere on the Internet. This allows users to remotely turn-off lights, turn-down thermostats, check for locked doors, or likewise to receive alerts from security or energy devices embedded in the home. The result is ubiquitous access to home status from control panels in the home, to laptops in the office, to cell phones on the go.

"Z-Wave has made it possible for homeowners to readily install wireless control of their entire home for truly managing their energy and security while at home or away,” said Ken Lowe, vice president of strategic marketing for Sigma Designs. "Our new ZM4100 series takes this formula to the next level of performance and enables it to be used on a worldwide basis.”

Z-Wave Goes World-wide With the ZM4100

The ZM4100 Series Modules open up new international home control markets by expanding the frequency range, memory size, and security level for the embedded consumer devices while remaining fully interoperable with the existing Z-Wave ecosystem. Furthermore, by offering these capabilities in ultra-miniature packages with the lowest power available in an RF system, the ZM4100 series supports implementations for a wider range of small form factor, battery powered devices.

RF spectrums around the world are growing crowded, with interference always being an issue, especially with the commonly used 2.4 GHz band being swamped by WLAN equipment. To address this, the ZM4100 modules offer a fast frequency agility mechanism with concurrent multi-channel RF support that operates at 2.4 GHz and multiple sub-GHz bands, including the 952 Mhz frequency band recently opened in Japan. Combined with an advanced interference blocking mechanism that offers superior resilience, the ZM4100 now provides reliable communications across all international markets even in today’s congested home environment.

Continuing its innovation, the ZM4100 series has also expanded the amount of memory on its chip to 64KB, essentially doubling the available space. This memory expansion allows for the operation of dual-stack devices, supporting both the legacy Z-Wave protocol as well as the IP protocol for remote addressability. Furthermore, as these devices open themselves up to the web, data security becomes even more critical. To address this concern, the ZM4100 offers a robust security engine for AES-128 security plus a hardware-based random number generator. In combination, these mechanisms make it safe to provide user access to their own home while preventing others from online attacks.

The new ZM4100 Series Modules come in ready-to-use module form which are available in two configurations. The ZM4101 provides a very compact 8x8 mm QFN package that simplifies integration into small form factor consumer devices. The ZM4102 provides a package that is fully pin-compatible to the previous generation model ZM3102 for plug-n-play simplicity. The ZM4100 developer kits will be available in December for manufacturers of home control devices.

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 the forward-looking statements 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 multimedia entertainment throughout the home. SoC solutions include media processing, wireless communications, and video image processing 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, Europe (Belgium), China, Japan, Taiwan and a third-party distributor in Korea. For more information, please visit Sigma Designs’ web site at www.sigmadesigns.com.

About Z-Wave

Z-Wave® is the first technology to bring affordable, reliable and easy-to-use wireless control to every aspect of daily life including remote home monitoring, comfort and convenience, safety and security, and energy conservation. Z-Wave is an award-winning, proven and interoperable wireless mesh networking technology that allows a wide array of devices in and around the home to communicate including lighting, appliances, HVAC, entertainment centers, and security systems. Z-Wave certified products are currently available from leading consumer brands in over 300 products. For more information about Z-Wave please visit www.z-wave.com.