Atheros Communications reportedly has unveiled an 802.11n WLAN solution that’s designed for high-performance wireless cable modem gateways.

 

Implemented by the IEEE (News - Alert) LAN/MAN Standards Committee, IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards carrying out wireless local area network computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands.

 

The company is working with Texas Instruments, using the consumer electronics giant’s Puma 5 family of DOCSIS 3.0 chipsets in combination with its AR7020 Embedded WLAN Accelerator. The solutions are expected to deliver advanced multimedia services in the home, as they now feature wired and wireless connectivity – a combination that allows Multiple Service Operators and service providers to easily offer WiFi connectivity on advanced cable modem gateways.

 

“Atheros (News - Alert) WLAN technology is the ideal complement to TI’s Puma 5 DOCSIS 3.0 cable solutions, enabling manufacturers to easily deliver tiered product lines of wireless cable modem gateways that bring triple-play and next-generation IP services to the digital home,” said Ali Hariri, vice president of Broadband Carrier Networking at Atheros. “Our joint design effort with TI’s Cable business unit has resulted in a turnkey platform.”

 

Cable modem manufacturers get improved flexibility and ease of design as Atheros now offers a single, common software driver which supports the AR7020 embedded WLAN accelerator in combination with any of Atheros’ 802.11n-based solutions. Atheros’ software driver offers an advanced platform that meets the demanding performance and feature requirements of the cable modem gateway market.

 

Integrating a 200MHz CPU and system memories, Atheros’ AR7020 embedded WLAN accelerator features an innovative architecture. The Atheros AR7020 features PCI, MII, RMII, GMII, and RGMII interfaces.

 

Recently, the company collaborated with Qualcomm, a developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, to deliver a new connectivity solution. The new solution combines Atheros’ latest-generation AR6002 Radio-on-Chip for Mobile WLAN single-chip with Qualcomm’s (News - Alert) BTS4025 Bluetooth System-on-Chip that supports EDR 2.1 with class 1.5 power. The combination of Qualcomm’s Bluetooth and Atheros’ WLAN for mobile delivers advanced system performance to OEMs and ODMs.