Freescale, Atheros address wireless communication

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Freescale Semiconductor, a provider in embedded processors and industrial applications today announced collaboration with Atheros Communications, a developer of wired and wireless communication semiconductors, for production-ready reference design for high-performance and cost-effective Wi-Fi access points for enterprise offices and small-to-medium sized businesses (SMB).

The collaboration is intended to reduce design complexity, lower bill of material costs and deliver high performance solutions to OEM customers building Wi-Fi access points and other 802.11n solutions.

The reference design dissipates minimal power at high rates of performance, allowing for the development of multiple SKUs to address a wide range of system configuration requirements, said a press release.

The solution leverages Freescale’s QorIQ P1020 system-on-chip (SoC) and Atheros’ 3-stream XSPAN chipset with Signal-Sustain Technology to accelerate time to market for 802.11n access points capable of servicing corporate network environments.

Dual-band, dual-concurrent products based on this combination can deliver up to 600Mbps of actual throughput and greater wireless coverage to support a wide range of demanding enterprise and SMB applications that boost productivity and increase employee mobility.

Preet Virk, director of strategy for Freescale’s Networking Processor Division said, “Our joint solution gives OEMs an industry-leading combination of dual-core performance and low-power operation in a reference design that is available today.”

“Many enterprise customers are looking to upgrade their WLAN infrastructure with 3-stream 11n products that support more users and more demanding applications,” added Tony Hsu, senior director of marketing for Atheros’ Networking Business Unit.

He further added that combining XSPAN solutions with Freescale’s P1020 processor enables 3x3 dual-band dual-concurrent capabilities within stringent power budgets. As a result, OEMs can quickly build products that meet the performance and reliability requirements of today’s enterprise networks.