Date: 07/11/2009

11n WLAN and Bluetooth on single chip for smartphone and smartbook markets

Wi-Fi chip specialist Atheros has rolled out AR6133, the WLAN and Bluetooth Radio-on-Chip for Mobile devices. It has 11n-enabled mobile WLAN and Bluetooth 3.0 RF transceivers suitable for products such as mobile gaming devices, eBook readers, portable media players (PMPs), and smartbooks.

AR6133 features peer-to-peer Wi-Fi capability and bluetooth PAN for mobile devices. With a 85 Mbps actual throughput capability, the AR6133 allows users to share HD video content with up to eight other client devices without using an WLAN Access Point (AP). The AR6133 can simultaneously maintain Internet connection and any other wireless connection to other mobile devices. The user can at a time connect to Bluetooth wireless audio headsets and speakers, mice or keyboards.

The AR6133 features on-chip Efficient Power Amplifier (EPA) technology, integrated power management unit (PMU) for direct connectivity to the battery, sleep clock, and one-time programmable memory, eliminating the need for EEPROM. The solution also features direct connect to the antenna and on-chip self-calibration.

This wireless chip saves extra design effort required when separate bluetooth and WiFi devices are used.
The WLAN and Bluetooth combined IC also provides unified interface to enables both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth supported by high-speed, low-latency SDIO interface.

"Combination solutions are growing in popularity among mobile gaming and portable CE, fueled by new entertainment and productivity use cases," said Amir Faintuch, vice president and general manager of Atheros' mobile business unit. "With the new AR6133, our customers can easily design a complete turnkey mobile 11n and Bluetooth combination solution into mobile consumer products, enabling consumers to enjoy the benefits of portable, seamless connectivity."

Availability: Now in samples
Package: Measuring 8.3mm x 9.2mm (1.0 mm thickness) in a 64 pad QFN

For customer who doesn't need Bluetooth, Atheros is offering WLAN-only AR6103 chip in same package.

Another single-chip 11n new device from Atheros, the AR6003 achieves up to 48Mbps TCP/IP in the 2.4 GHz band in 20 MHz mode, and an 85Mbps TCP/IP in 5 GHz in 40 MHz mode.

The AR6003 is available in single (2.4 GHz) and dual-band (2.4/5 GHz) options in BGA or CSP packages to satisfy a wide array of application design requirements.

Atheros has also launched AR9300 family of WLAN devices offering 450 Mbps PHY rates derived from its 3-stream 11n MIMO configuration for personal computers, digital home networking equipment from retail vendors, carriers and consumer electronics manufacturers, and enterprise/small medium business (SMB) networking equipment.

"Atheros offers customers a unique advantage with our significant presence across multiple networking markets including computing, digital home networking, and enterprise/SMB," said Ben Naskar, vice president and general manager of Atheros' networking business unit. "Just as we did with our highly successful Align 1-stream family this year, we are rolling out an ecosystem of SST3 solutions to enable end-to-end connection of products across market segments to support the growing demand for the very best wireless infrastructure to expand network capacity, deliver flawless video, improve productivity and enhance the overall user experience."

"The recently ratified IEEE 802.11n standard provides many implementation options, ranging from 1- to 4- streams to enable unprecedented PHY rates for Wi-Fi. The standard also offers multiple techniques to boost transmit and receive capabilities, which help sustain these PHY rates across the wireless link," said Bill McFarland, vice president and chief technology officer of Atheros. "In XSPAN with SST3, we've implemented what we consider to be the most effective combination of these optional features and advanced techniques, to provide a WLAN platform that is best suited to support the connectivity demands of high-quality multimedia."

XSPAN with SST3 makes sharing media content easy with Atheros direct connect technology without using Wi-Fi Access Point (AP). Solutions that will comprise the XSPAN with SST3 ecosystem are:

Digital Home
AP/Router platforms
AR9380/81-based single-band/dual-band Gigabit Ethernet platforms

Carrier Gateway & CE platforms
AR9380-based DSL, Cable, Set Top Box and TV solutions

Enterprise/SMB
AP/Router platforms
AR9390-based dual-band Gigabit Ethernet POE platforms

Computing
Notebook and Desktop platforms
AR9380 Dual-band - PCIe

Availability: XSPAN with SST3 solutions are in sampling and available in the first quarter of 2010.

For more details visit www.atheros.com


Editorial Product Rating: Average