SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Atheros Communications Inc. isn’t wasting any time getting its pre-802.11n Wi-Fi technology on the market, having launched its new pre-n chips and networking processors last week.
The company says its launch of pre-n gear could push WLAN access points to below $100 just in time for the holidays, though the products may not be fully interoperable with products manufactured according the final standard, expected to be available in 2008.
Nonetheless, the company is touting its new equipment as being capable of delivering 802.11n’s promised higher-throughput performance at mainstream WLAN prices.
The new pre-n chip is part of the Atheros’ XSpan brand portfolio and is lower in cost than the company’s original pre-n chip namely because it has a 2×2 Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output design, scaled down from the original chip’s 3×3 MIMO design.
The 2×2 version has two receivers on one end and 2 transmitters on the other end. Data is sent simultaneously, increasing throughput. Though the 2×2 gear is somewhat slower than the 3×3 equipment, Atheros is betting that the lower-end product’s lower price will attract a significant amount of customers. And the 2×2 pre-n products are still noticeably faster than 802.11g equipment’s peak data rates of 54 Mbps. The 802.11n standard is expected to deliver peak Wi-Fi data rates of about 540 Mbps.
Atheros said its entire Xspan family of products features all the technical elements present in draft 1.0 of the 802.11n specification, which the company says ensures interoperability with both legacy devices and draft 802.11n products.
Atheros said its Xspan technology is running in retail networking equipment including the Belkin N1 Wireless Networking Line, D-Link’s RangeBoosterseries, and the Linksys Wireless-N Broadband product line.
