Atheros Communications
Introduces the ROCm® Platform for High-Performance, Low-Power Mobile WLAN
Applications
New single-chip devices bring full
wireless networking capability with high QoS to mobile devices ranging from VoIP
phones to MP3 players
SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 23, 2005—Atheros
Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHR), a leading developer of advanced wireless
solutions, today announced its first Radio-on-Chip for Mobile (ROCm®) products.
These single-chip wireless LAN (WLAN) solutions deliver the robust,
high-throughput performance of Atheros data- and video-networking products plus
the characteristics required for mobile devices: low power consumption, small
form factor, and low-overhead operation for the host device. These
characteristics make the Atheros ROCm platform ideal for consumer products such
as dual-mode cellular phones, VoIP handsets, MP3 portable media players, digital
still/video cameras, and gaming consoles.
The ROCm family includes single- and dual-band chips, the
AR6001GL and AR6001XL, respectively. Both chips provide 54-Mbps connectivity to a
market traditionally served by lower-rate solutions that consume far more power.
“We are focused on bringing Atheros-class high-performance
802.11g and 802.11a/g capability to a broad range of mobile electronics
devices,” said Craig Barratt, president and chief executive officer of Atheros.
“By leveraging the high performance of our core product line from the
data-networking world, our ROCm platform delivers unparalleled Atheros wireless
LAN technology with battery-friendly power consumption. The new ROCm chips have
already received significant design wins with major OEMs.”
“WLAN semiconductor technology is approaching a point where
high performance, small form factor, and low pricing is making it easier to
integrate the technology into embedded products,” said Celeste Crystal, senior
analyst at IDC. “We anticipate strong growth in WLAN-enabled mobile devices,
reaching $614M by 2009, a 95% compound average growth rate (CAGR). This growth
will be driven by the trend to wirelessly connect all types of mobile and
handheld devices.”
The Atheros ROCm solutions minimize power consumption
through the use of techniques such as automatic power save delivery (APSD) along
with the chips’ extremely low-power sleep mode. High-rate transmissions minimize
transmit/receive times, while self-contained driver processing on the chip’s
embedded processor offloads the host processor of routine network maintenance
tasks. These and other power-saving strategies enable the ROCm chips to improve
the energy efficiency of WLAN operation by as much as six times compared to
conventional WLAN chips, with a corresponding improvement in battery life. To
accommodate the wide range of supply voltages found in various embedded
platforms, the chips incorporate an integrated power-management unit.
In addition to low-power operation, Atheros ROCm chips
offer uncompromised performance along with Atheros’ full-featured support for
capabilities such as easy network setup and configuration, full-speed
hardware-based security, and support for both prioritized and polled quality of
service (QoS). These capabilities help ensure glitch-free, secure transfer of
audio/video streams under a variety of conditions. At the same time, the
devices’ single-chip form factor enables an extremely compact WLAN footprint in
space-sensitive embedded designs.
To ensure that end users have an easy way to configure
their ROCm-enabled devices, Atheros offers the JumpStart for Wireless™ secure
configuration tool. With a simple press of a button, consumers can use the
JumpStart application to establish highly secure connections between their
mobile devices and personal WLANs. The JumpStart code is available on an
open-source basis from SourceForge, at
http://sourceforge.net/projects/jumpstart-wl/.
Atheros ROCs
The single-chip integration of the 802.11 media access
control (MAC), baseband, and radio-frequency (RF) functionality in the AR6001GL
and AR6001XL ROCm products represents the latest in a series of systems-on-chip
(SoCs) developed using Atheros’ radio-on-chip (ROC) design methodology. Over the
past 16 months, Atheros has introduced single-chip 802.11g and 802.11a/g PCI and
PCI Express clients, a single-chip SoC for 802.11g access points, and the
world’s first production-ready single-chip PHS cellular-phone solution, the
AR1900.
Atheros ROCm platform availability
Atheros is now sampling the AR6001GL and AR6001XL, with
volume production scheduled for Q3 2005.
About Atheros Communications, Inc.
Atheros Communications is a leading developer of
semiconductor system solutions for wireless communications products. Atheros
combines its wireless systems expertise with high-performance radio frequency
(RF), mixed signal and digital semiconductor design skills to provide highly
integrated chipsets that are manufacturable on low-cost, standard complementary
metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes. Atheros technology is being used by
a broad base of leading customers, including personal computer, networking
equipment and handset manufacturers. For more information, visit
www.atheros.com or send email to
info@atheros.com.
# # #
Atheros is a registered trademark of Atheros
Communications, Inc., and ROCm 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.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
Except for the historical information
contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including the
features, performance and benefits of the ROCm family of chips; the growth
anticipated by IDC in the market for WLAN enabled mobile devices; the
anticipated trend to wirelessly connect all types of mobile and handheld
devices; and the expected timing of volume production of the ROCm family of
products, 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, the impact of competitive products
and technological advances; unforeseen defects in the AR6001GL and AR6001XL chips
that may be discovered upon volume production and broad deployment;
manufacturing difficulties; difficulties in development of enhanced and new
products; Atheros’ ability to market its products and ship in volume; Atheros’
lack of experience in markets other than WLAN; whether the market for
WLAN-enabled mobile devices grows; general economic conditions; the effects of
regulation of cellular and other wireless markets; and other risks detailed in
Atheros’ Annual Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2005 as
filed with the SEC, 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 contained in the quote from IDC is reliable, we have not
independently verified IDC’s data. IDC 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.
Cheryl Patstone, 408-773-5344, cheryl@atheros.com,
or Greg Wood, A&R Partners, 650-762-2838,
gwood@arpartners.com,
For analyst contact: Deborah Stapleton, Investor
Relations for Atheros, 650-470-0200,
deb@stapleton.com
