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Atheros XSPAN® Technology Overview

Atheros offers the industry's most innovative and complete portfolio of 802.11n wireless LAN chip solutions. The third-generation of Atheros’ XSPAN 802.11n technology, consisting of the AR9280 and AR9281, builds
upon the company’s second-generation XSPAN products – with enhanced performance, higher integration, smaller form factors and lower overall cost – to meet the needs of the rapidly growing 802.11n market.
Like the second-generation XSPAN products, the new third-generation solutions are compliant with the latest IEEE 802.11n specification.

Atheros third-generation XSPAN chips feature:

• Leading Integration that delivers end-product cost and form factors to drive broad market adoption of 802.11n products;

• Single- and Dual-Band, and Multiple MIMO Configurations that enable OEMs to balance product price and performance to satisfy application and market segment requirements;

• Rich Media & Peripheral Interfaces that address the requirements for advanced media networking applications and allow end-product feature differentiation;

• Easy Network Setup via Atheros’ JumpStart for Wireless, the company’s simple network configuration software which supports both the PIN and push-button setup methods supporting the Wi-Fi® Protected Setup™ specification.

Product Overview

Introducing the Atheros AR9281, the single-chip, single-band 2.4 GHz solution for PCIe in XSPAN's third generation of products. The AR9281 is the most integrated and most compact 802.11n solution for single-band PCIe on the market, featuring a half-Mini Card form factor that is 30% smaller than the nearest competitive 11n. This breakthrough product will drive the transition of legacy Wi-Fi to 802.11n in the mainstreampriced PC market. It offers the optimal balance of performance, power and price with its single-band, 1x2 MIMO configuration which features downshift to 1x1 MIMO with Dynamic MIMO Power Save. The AR9281 follows in Atheros' drive towards integration – and is the eighth singlechip client solution to be introduced.

Solution Highlights

• Single-chip, 802.11n compliant wireless LAN client solution with integrated MAC, baseband and 2.4 GHz radios
• Based on third-generation 802.11n compliant technology
• Support for 1x2 MIMO
• Conserves power with 1x1 downshift using Dynamic MIMO Power Save
• Enables PHY rate of up to 300 Mbps on downlink
• Compliant with IEEE 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11d, 802.11e, 802.11i, and 802.11n
• Lead-free RoHS compliant

For more information on Atheros and Atheros wireless technology please visit www.atheros.com
Specification subject to change © 2010 Atheros Communications, all rights reserved

Atheros, the Atheros logo, XSPAN and the XSPAN logo are registered trademarks of Atheros Communications, Inc.

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