Atheros 802.11n WLAN解决方案

Atheros offers the most innovative and complete portfolio of 802.11n wireless LAN chipset solutions. The new AR9001 family of chipsets, the second-generation of Atheros’ XSPAN 802.11n technology, builds upon the company’s first-generation XSPAN products – with enhanced performance, higher integration, smaller form factors and lower overall cost – to meet the needs of the rapidly growing 802.11n market. Like the first-generation XSPAN products, all AR9001 chipsets are compliant to the latest IEEE 802.11n draft specification.
Atheros AR9001 芯片组主要特性：
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 tailor product price/performance for specific application and market segment requirements;
Rich Media & Peripheral Interfaces that anticipate the requirements for advanced media networking applications and allow end-product feature differentiation;
Simple Setup via Atheros’ JumpStart for Wireless, the company’s simple network configuration software which supports both the PIN and push-button setup methods complying to the Wi-Fi Protected Setup specification;
Worldwide 5 GHz Full-Spectrum Support for state-of-regulatory requirements with Atheros’ Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS).

图1. AR9001AP-3NX2芯片组外形图
The Atheros AR9001AP-3NX2 chipset incorporates all of the key components needed to deliver high-performance, dual-concurrent AP/routers. The AR9001AP-3NX2 solution features the industry’s only custom-designed for WLAN network processor, two simultaneous single-chip, triple-radios, two MAC/basebands and Atheros’ Gigabit PHY.The design leverages the extraordinary processing power of Atheros’ 600 MHz AR7161 WNPU to achieve Gigabit Ethernet connectivity to the WAN and LAN, along with abundant remaining processing capacity for sophisticated routing and networking applications.Designed for Atheros’ SMB, Enterprise and Premium Home AP/router and gateway customers, the AR9001AP-3NX2 delivers the ultimate in 802.11n networking with its simultaneous 2.4 and 5 GHz bands and 3x3 MIMO reliability achieved with Signal-Sustain Technology.

图2. AR9001AP-3NX2架构
解决方案主要亮点：
Solution Highlights
Next-generation, high-performance 802.11n draft compliant wireless access point and router chipset solution including:
- AR7161: 600 MHz Wireless Network Processing Unit (WNPU)
- AR9160: Two dual-band 3x3 MIMO MAC/Baseband
- AR9103: 2.4 GHz 3x3 MIMO Radio
- AR9106: 2.4/5 GHz 3x3 MIMO Radio
Full support for Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) enabling
uncompromised operation in the broad range of 5 GHz channels
Atheros XSPAN with SST technology – providing the industry’s highest TCP/IP throughput at enhanced range
Support for 3x3 MIMO with spatial multiplexing
Enables bandwidth of up to 600 Mbps PHY/link rate (dual-band) – twelve times the bandwidth of 802.11g or 802.11a
Dual-band WLAN radios operate from 2.300 to 2.500 GHz and 4.9 to 5.925 GHz
Compliant with IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11d,
802.11e, 802.11h, 802.11i, 802.11j, draft 802.11n
Available in commercial and industrial temperature grades
Lead-free RoHS compliant
AR9160 MAC/基带处理器性能：
Supports 2x2, 2x3 and 3x3 configurations
Based on industry’s most proven 802.11n MAC/Baseband
IEEE 802.11n draft compliant
Performance enhancements including:
- Improved rate over range performance
- Improved MIMO algorithms
AR9103/AR9106 3x3 MIMO 无线电性能：
Each with three integrated radios
- AR9103: 2.4 GHz 3x3 MIMO Radio
- AR9106: 2.4/5 GHz 3x3 MIMO Radio
Eliminates all IF filters and most RF filters; no external voltage- controlled oscillators (VCOs) or surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters needed
Support for 5, 10, 20 and 40 MHz channels. Rx filter supports blocking specifications for half and quarter rate channels.
AR7161 无线网络处理器性能：
Wireless LAN processors for home and enterprise access points, routers and gateways
Processor speeds of up to 600 MHz
32-bit MIPS 24K processor core
Two 10/100/1000 Ethernet MACs
High speed UART and GPIOs
DDR and serial FLASH memory interfaces
32-bit, 33/66 MHz PCI 2.3 host interface
Two USB 2.0 MAC/PHYs
I2S interface to directly support an external audio codec
下表为AR9001AP-3NX2主要指标：

AR9001AP-3NX2參考设计主要亮点：
Based on the Atheros PB44 evaluation platform, with two mini-PCI slots, Atheros AR7161, GbE WAN and LAN connectivity, and access to all WNPU system interfaces
- I2S: audio streaming
- SLIC: VoIP
- Dual USB: NAS, networking printer connectivity, etc.
Utilizes MB81 (single-band) and MB82 (dual-band) mini-PCI cards for MAC/Baseband/Radio subsystems
Enables fastest development and evaluation of software, hardware, and other implementation options

图3. AR9001AP-3NX2外形图。