Ralink offers per-packet antenna diversity tech

CUPERTINO, USA: Networking company Ralink Technology Corporation announced the launch of RT5350, touted to be the world’s first 802.11n router-on-a-chip to include per-packet antenna diversity technology.

With MIPS CPU, 5 port 10/100 Ethernet MAC/PHY, PMU, radio, baseband and power amplifiers all contained on a single die, Ralink claims that the new RT5350 delivers high performance, smaller size and attractive pricing required for integration into today’s high volume router, broadband connectivity, and consumer electronics products.

Also Read: D-Link's new router creates 802.11n Wi-Fi Network

"Ralink’s unique receive diversity algorithm intelligently chooses the best antenna on a per packet basis, resulting in optimal performance even in rapidly changing environments," said Shinglin Chung, senior director of Consumer Solution Business Unit, D-Link Corporation.

The RT5350 router-on-a-chip includes an 802.11n media access controller (MAC) and baseband, a 2.4GHz radio and FEM, a 360 MHz MIPS 24K CPU core, and a 5-port 10/100 Ethernet MAC/PHY.

The embedded chip level per-packet antenna diversity function enhances load balance and coverage.

Ralink claims that these results in almost 40 percent faster WLAN throughput over range compared to conventional 1x1 single antenna competing solutions in a multiple-client environment.

The USB port can be configured to access external storage for digital home applications. In addition, the RT5350 has multiple hardware interfaces (SPI/PCM/I2S/I2C/UART/GDMA) to enable interoperability with many possible applications.

Moreover, it features a configurable boot clock rate to prevent 3G, LTE frequency interferences.