Atheros Encores New 802.11n
Single-Chip to Deliver Highest Performance Wi-Fi in Multimedia Home Gateways
New-Generation XSPAN
Delivers 11n Performance at Price Points To Enable Broad Deployment of
Triple-Play Gateways
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 17, 2007
— Atheros Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHR), a leading developer of
advanced wireless solutions, today announced two single-chip 802.11n solutions
developed expressly for the carrier gateway market. The new dual-band,
2.4GHz/5GHz, AR9220 and single-band, 2.4GHz AR9223 PCI designs join the
comprehensive Atheros XSPAN® family, the world’s most
widely adopted draft 802.11n Wi-Fi solutions. These latest 802.11n designs
provide reliable, market-proven performance at price points that allow carriers
to broadly deploy home gateways capable of supporting data, voice and video on a
single wireless network. They are the second implementation of Atheros’ new
single-chip 11n design which follows last month’s introduction of the company’s
half-mini card for PCI Express (PCIe), the world’s most integrated, compact
802.11n solution for PCs.
The new, cost-effective AR9220 and AR9223 11n PCI designs
will bring the highest-performance WLAN technology to a broader base of
subscribers in significantly more robust gateway products. Routers based on
these new XSPAN PCI solutions will deliver 10 times the
throughput and nearly twice the range of legacy 802.11g and 802.11a/g networks,
resulting in optimal coverage throughout the home. This enhanced performance
will enable carriers to reliably deliver an array of multimedia services to
subscriber homes, increasing the average revenue per unit (ARPU) and assuring
subscribers a higher quality experience to enhance user satisfaction and reduce
costly support calls.
Best-of-Breed Partnerships
Atheros is a leading supplier of wireless solutions to the
carrier gateway market. Its partnerships with leading broadband communications
IC companies and collaborations with gateway software vendors result in
best-of-breed, turnkey system solutions. These designs allow carrier equipment
manufacturers to quickly and cost-effectively deliver an array of
high-performance, wireless-enabled residential gateways, ranging from low-cost,
entry-level models, to advanced multimedia networking gateways and set-top
boxes. Atheros’ single-chip 802.11g solutions are already featured in numerous
products from the top broadband gateway providers and provide Wi-Fi connectivity
in homes worldwide.
According to Dell’Oro Group, the market for 802.11n
residential gateways is expected to grow to almost 64 million units in 2011.[1]
As service providers look to expand delivery of rich media services to
consumers, 11n provides the best end-user experience for wireless home broadband
connections today.
“Atheros’ new single-chip XSPAN
solutions for PCI allow carriers to deploy wireless triple-play gateways to a
broader subscriber base at competitive price points,” said Mike Stauffer,
director of carrier marketing and business development for Atheros. “Our new
AR9220 and AR9223 chips offer the industry’s best throughput, reliability and
coverage to deliver content-rich, multimedia networking in the digital home.”
Performance/Price Design Options
The 2x2, dual-band and single-band MIMO options enable
carriers to select price/ performance vectors for their mid-tier and higher-end
gateway product offerings. The AR9220 dual-band, 2x2 MIMO, PCI design is ideal
for high-end, multiplay gateways and set-top boxes, which must robustly support
multimedia applications requiring uninterrupted throughput – IPTV, HD video
streaming, VoIP calls and multi-player online gaming on the 5GHz channel—while
using the 2.4GHz band for simple data networking. This solution provides leading
802.11a/g/n performance, supporting up to 300 Mbps physical data rates and 200
Mbps of actual user throughput on both the uplink and the downlink.
With the dual-band design, users will enjoy universal
connectivity to any 802.11 device through their gateway or set-top box.
The AR9223 single-band, 2x2 MIMO PCI design brings
high-performance 802.11n throughput levels into basic home gateways with up to
300 Mbps physical data rates. The single-band option offers carriers a natural
migration path from 11g to 11n in the 2.4GHz band, and is well-suited for
applications less sensitive to bandwidth limitations and interference, such as
web surfing, VoIP calls, audio streaming and wireless printing.
The PCI interface allows for direct integration on DSL
motherboards, easing carrier manufacturers’ design cycles to accelerate
time-to-market. The chips also feature advanced power efficiencies for greener
gateways that reduce energy consumption. Atheros XSPAN
features Bluetooth® coexistence mechanisms that enable smooth, simultaneous
operation of Wi-Fi and the many Bluetooth-enabled devices found in today’s
homes.
Advanced Networking Features to
Enhance User Experience
Atheros’ AR9220 and AR9223 feature advanced networking
algorithms that provide Quality-of-Service (QoS) for carriers to deploy the most
media-capable home gateway solutions on the market.
-
Atheros’ Optimized Rate Adaptation Algorithms are
introduced in these latest solutions to more robustly support advanced
multimedia networking in the home. They are designed to provide the
appropriate throughput levels to assure optimal wireless capacity for fluid
delivery of video and voice. The protocol intelligently selects and delivers
the ideal data rate for each task and modifies the throughput accordingly.
-
IPTV Multicast Delivery is another Atheros QoS
technology utilized to achieve smooth, uninterrupted broadcast transmissions
from XSPAN-enabled gateways. This advanced networking
technique results in the most efficient and reliable delivery of IPTV and
other media content to ensure the most satisfying user experience.
Atheros-Class 802.11n Integration
The AR9220 and AR9223 for carrier gateway customers are the
industry’s most-integrated solutions today, combining the radio, baseband/MAC
and PCI interface into a single-chip to maximize cost efficiencies. Higher board
integration results in substantially fewer RBOM components than any competing
11n solutions.
Product Configurations and
Availability
The configurations launched today offer
performance and price options consisting of the:
These solutions are based on the same Atheros XSPAN
technology which comprises, in part, the Wi-Fi Alliance Draft 802.11n test bed,
and have been Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™. The new designs support Linux® operating systems
and comply with industry standards WMM® (Wi-Fi Multimedia™) and Wi-Fi Protected
Setup™ with Atheros’ JumpStart for Wireless™, the company’s simple network
configuration software.
The Atheros AR9220 and AR9223 solutions will be sampling to
customers in January 2008 and will be featured at the Atheros Booth, #35349 at
the 2008 International CES in Las Vegas.
About Atheros Communications, Inc.
Atheros Communications is a leading developer of
semiconductor system solutions for wireless and other network communications
products. Atheros combines its wireless and networking systems expertise with
high-performance radio frequency (RF), mixed signal and digital semiconductor
design skills to provide highly integrated chipsets that are manufactured on
low-cost, standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes.
Atheros technology is used by a broad base of leading customers, including
personal computer, networking equipment and consumer device manufacturers. For
more information, please visit www.atheros.com
or send email to info@atheros.com.
###
Atheros, the Atheros logo, XSPAN and
JumpStart for Wireless are trademarks of Atheros Communications, Inc. All other
trademarks mentioned in this document are the sole property of their respective
owners.
The Bluetooth® word
mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and
any use of such marks by Atheros is under license. Other
trademarks and trade names are those of their respective
owners.
NOTE ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
Except for the historical information
contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including
statements regarding the features, benefits and performance of Atheros’ AR9220
and AR9223 solutions, the expected timing of sampling of these products, and
the projected growth of the market for 802.11n residential gateways, are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially,
including, but not limited to, difficulties in the development and production of
new and enhanced products, the effects of competition and technological change,
general economic conditions, and the risks detailed in Atheros' Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 and its Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, as filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, and in other reports filed with the SEC by Atheros from
time to time. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof.
Atheros disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Although we believe that the forward-looking
statistical information from Dell’Oro Group is reliable, we have not
independently verified this data. Dell’Oro Group generally indicates that it
has obtained its information from sources believed to be reliable, but does not
guarantee the accuracy and completeness of the information.
Dakota Lee, 408-720-5597, dakota@atheros.com,
or Dan Munoz, A&R Edelman for
Atheros , 650-762-2918,
dmunoz@ar-edelman.com
For
analyst inquires contact: Deborah Stapleton of Stapleton Communications, Inc.,
+1-650-470-0200,
deb@stapleton.com
