Atheros: Two 802.11n Chips for Carrier Markets

Atheros Communications have announced their new chips in the XPSAN family, to be used in gateway products. The dual-band AR9220 and the single-band AR9223 products are single-chip solutions, fully compatible with the 802.11n wireless specifications. The chips support 2x2 MIMO technology and provide a PCI interface.

Both the AR9220 and the AR9223 use the same design and feature the same characteristics, except that the latter does not feature the 5 GHz radio, which translates in a lower price. The AR9220 is a dual-band version to work on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and features a 2x2 MIMO, PCI design.

The chip's 5GHz radio is to be used within multi-play gateways and set-top boxes that must preserve a permanent connection, such as IPTV, HD video streaming, VoIP calls and multi-player online gaming, while the 2.4 GHz band is used for data networking.

The chips can deliver a raw data throughput of 300 Mbps, while the actual speed is ranged at about 200Mbps on the uplink and downlink. AR9223 targets the home wireless market and gives carriers the opportunity of upgrading from 802.11g to 802.11n - but they will only work in the 2.4GHz spectrum.

"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."

The chips are due to sampling in January 2008, but they will first be displayed at the 2008 International CES in Las Vegas.