NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR AND PROXIM JOIN FORCES TO DEVELOP HIGH-SPEED WIRELESS NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY

Companies to Collaborate on HomeRF Wireless for Broadband Networking

September 7, 2000 - National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) and Proxim (Nasdaq: PROX) today announced a joint effort to develop wireless home networking products based on the HomeRF protocol for 2.4 GHz radiofrequency (RF) technologies. The partnership follows last week's FCC decision to increase the bandwidth for frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum wireless technology. As a result of the ruling, Proxim and National will be able to accelerate wireless home-networking from current speeds of 1.6 megabits per second to more than to 10 megabits per second.

The National-Proxim wireless modem products will allow fast, secure Internet access, multimedia, gaming, and crystal-clear voice (wireless telephony) over distances of up to 150 feet. Based on National's advanced semiconductor technology and 2.4 GHz RF design experience, combined with Proxim's engineering expertise, the high-performance applications will feature low power consumption and small form factors at low costs.

"This is a very exciting time at Proxim. In the past we've worked together with National to design the market's leading wirefree solutions," said David King, president, chairman and CEO, Proxim. "Now, with the recent FCC ruling and our extended partnership, we will be able to create even faster, lower cost solutions that will position HomeRF as the standard of choice for wirefree data, voice and streaming media applications."

"Proxim is the clear leader in Home RF technology, and National Semiconductor silicon is built into every Proxim system solution on the market today," said William Stacy, vice president of National's wireless group. "We are excited to work with Proxim on next generation solutions that bring even higher performance wireless connectivity to information appliances in the home and office."

About Proxim
Proxim, Inc. (Nasdaq: PROX) has over 15 years of experience designing and building wirefree broadband networking solutions. Proxim's Symphony™: is the world's leading wirefree networking product for the home and small office and the company's RangeLAN2™ leads in the enterprise, OEM and wireless service provider market with nearly one million installed units. For building-to-building broadband networking, Proxim's Stratum™ is the fastest license-exempt wirefree Ethernet bridge, connecting buildings at distances up to seven miles. Proxim is also a founding member of the Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum (WLI Forum), and a core member of the Home Radio Frequency Working Group. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with offices globally. Visit www.proxim.com for more information.

About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor provides system-on-a-chip solutions for the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of the-art digital technology, the company's chips lead many sectors of the personal computer, communications, and consumer markets. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National reported sales of $2.1 billion for its last fiscal year and has about 10,500 employees worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.