Atheros, Qualcomm Team On Wi-Fi Chip Sets

MANHASSET, N.Y. — Seeking to solidify its presence in the Wi-Fi/cellular market, Atheros Communications Inc. has collaborated with Qualcomm Inc. to develop interoperability between its single-chip Radio-on-Chip for Mobile solution and select Qualcomm Mobile Station Modem chip sets.

The ROC solution will initially interoperate with the MSM6550 for CDMA2000 networks and the MSM6280 chipset for WCDMA (UMTS) networks. Atheros (Santa Clara, Calif.) and Qualcomm (San Diego) expect the combined solutions to enable cellular devices to support 802.11g and 802.11a/g wireless LAN) technology.

Earlier this month, Quorum Systems Inc., TTPCom Ltd., and Analog Devices Inc. announced they would collaborate to develop a GSM/voice-over-Wi-Fi dual-mode handset reference design.

The ROC solutions supported by Qualcomm’s MSM chipsets will give handset OEMs and ODMs an additional way to address the rapidly growing market for advanced mobile phones that deliver voice, data, multimedia content and services across both cellular and Wi-Fi networks. The solutions are expected to speed time-to-market while optimizing design of mobile phones requiring small form factors, low power consumption, and high performance connectivity.