WLAN :: AR9280

Atheros XSPAN® Technology

Atheros offers the industry's most innovative and complete portfolio of 802.11n wireless LAN chip solutions. This generation of Atheros’ XSPAN 802.11n technology builds upon the company’s XSPAN leadership – with enhanced performance, higher integration, smaller form factors and lower overall cost – to meet the needs of the rapidly growing 802.11n market. Like all Atheros' 11n solutions, the new fourth- generation solutions are compliant to the IEEE 802.11n specification.

Atheros fourth-generation XSPAN chips feature:

• Leading Integration that delivers end-product cost and form factors to drive broad market adoption of 802.11n products;
• Single- and Dual-Band, and Multiple MIMO Configurations that enable OEMs to balance product price/performance for specific applications and market segment requirements;
• Rich Media & Peripheral Interfaces that anticipate the requirements for advanced media networking applications and allow end-product feature differentiation;
• Easy Network Setup with the industry’s simple network configuration software that supports both the PIN and push-button setup methods.

Product Overview

Introducing the AR9280, the single-chip, dual-band (2.4/5 GHz) solution for PCIe in XSPAN's third generation of products. The AR9280 is the most integrated, most compact 802.11n solution for dual-band PCIe on the market, featuring a Half-Mini Card form factor that is 30% smaller than the nearest competitive 11n. This breakthrough product will drive the transition of legacy Wi-Fi to 802.11n in the mainstream-priced PC market. It offers the optimal balance of performance, power and price with its dual-band, 2x2 MIMO configuration which features downshift to 1x1 MIMO with Dynamic MIMO Power Save.

With this dual-band design, consumers will enjoy universal connectivity to any 802.11 network, including legacy 802.11b/g and 802.11a/g. While the 2.4 GHz band readily performs less demanding data applications, the virtually interference-free 5 GHz band supports high-bandwidth, latency-sensitive applications like HD-quality video streams and

wireless VoIP. Atheros is the leading provider of high-performance, dual-band WLAN solutions in the retail, PC OEM, enterprise and metro Wi-Fi segments worldwide.

In addition, the AR9280 follows Atheros' drive toward integration as the company's eighth, single-chip, client solution on the market. The result is a superior package footprint that drives down cost and enhances design flexibility.

Solution Highlights

• Single-chip, 802.11n compliant wireless LAN client solution with integrated MAC, baseband and dual 2.4/5 GHz radios
• Based on third-generation 802.11n-compliant technology
• Support for 2x2 MIMO with spatial multiplexing and MRC
• Features 1x1 Dynamic MIMO Power Save to conserve system power
• Enables PHY rate of up to 300 Mbps
• Compliant with IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11d, 802.11e, 802.11h, 802.11i, and 802.11n
• Lead-free RoHS compliant