Jungo and Atheros Unveil Draft 2.0 802.11n Reference Designs For High

The need for WLANs is rapidly increasing with wireless products making it easier to share and distribute multimedia. In order to support this consumer demand, the home wireless network must deliver the capacity required for a growing number of media applications and services. Jungo's feature-rich, high-performance OpenRG and OpenSMB gateway software platforms integrated with Atheros' XSPAN TM 802.11n dual-band concurrent (2.4/5GHz) technology with up to 300Mbps data rates per band deliver sophisticated features and robust performance at range, which is essential for carriers that want to enable a true triple-play home experience.

According to a recent iSuppli report¹, two-thirds of consumers want their televisions to connect to the Internet. To support this consumer demand, home networking is migrating beyond its PC-centric beginnings to incorporate a variety of entertainment-oriented consumer electronics devices including DVD recorders, digital televisions, multi-room DVRs, digital media adapters, set-top-boxes and video game consoles. Shipments of these network-equipped devices, along with consumer PCs and home network bridges and gateways, are expected to increase to 732.9 million units by 2011, more than triple the 225.3 million that were shipped in 2006.

"By 2011, Wi-Fi will be the most common network interface in the home, followed by Cat 5, power line and coax," said Steve Rago, principal analyst, networking/optical communications for iSuppli. "The ease of installing 802.11n will make it the choice of many home networking consumers."

Atheros' XSPAN draft 2.0 802.11n chipsets are featured in a growing number of wireless products ranging from home and enterprise-class access points to laptops and highly compact, thumb-size USB adapters. To ensure the highest standard of Wi-Fi performance and interoperability with the rapidly growing number of 802.11n devices, Atheros XSPAN dual-band 802.11n AP/router, CardBus and PCI Express client reference designs are Wi-Fi® CERTIFIED. In addition, the AP/router and CardBus designs were selected for inclusion in the Wi-Fi Alliance Draft 2.0 802.11n Test Program.

"We've combined Jungo's advanced gateway software with Atheros' XSPAN 802.11n performance to satisfy consumers' appetite for wireless multimedia applications," said Mike Stauffer, director of marketing for the carrier business with Atheros. "Users want to move their content from the broadband entry point, the residential gateway, to any device in the home. Atheros' wireless LAN enables the gateway to distribute the latest IPTV and video services in addition to supporting VoIP, Internet access and advanced wireless services."

Carriers are classifying consumers into two user segments: those who want 802.11n multimedia applications and those who only require basic 802.11g data networking applications like e-mail, web surfing and file transfers.

"We see consumer demand for pervasive entertainment continuously growing, rendering the gateway as the digital home media orchestrator, serving new applications and distributing content throughout the home," said Gilad Brand, director of product marketing for Jungo. "Atheros' 802.11n technology will help our broadband CPE customers support the growing operator demand for the rapid introduction of value-added services that create new revenue streams."

Jungo's OpenRG software speeds development of gateways with a modular architecture that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) for a wide range of popular services and functions, including IPTV, home media distribution, WLAN, home network security, QoS, VoIP, IP-PBX, remote file access and parental control. This robust functionality gives gateway manufacturers enhanced flexibility for rapidly developing market-specific products.

Atheros' 802.11n solutions are optimized for whole home coverage with significantly increased bandwidth capacity up to 400 Mbps of real user throughput² using the company's XSPAN with Signal-Sustain Technology TM (SST). Only home gateways featuring XSPAN with SST offer industry-leading wireless signal reliability which results from the world's only 3-transmitter/3-receiver (3Tx/3Rx) MIMO design. Atheros' innovative triple-radio architecture delivers higher throughput at greater distances than conventional 2x2 MIMO solutions, providing a distinct competitive advantage for carriers and ISPs looking to differentiate their gateways by delivering the ultimate wireless user experience.

¹"Home Networking: In Search of a Killer Connection" iSuppli, July 2007
²Performance based on a dual-band concurrent 2.4/5GHz gateway reference design.