Single-chip USB wireless LAN controller
Atheros Communications
The Atheros AR9271 single-chip USB solution provides enhanced Wi-Fi performance and value for home gateways, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, printers and a variety of other embedded wireless products. The solution can also be integrated into wireless USB adapters for notebooks and desk- tops, to enable simple, low-cost performance upgrades on legacy PCs. The AR9271 WLAN USB single chip features a new architecture that integrates both a CPU and memory to run more of the wireless LAN func- tion on-chip. Unlike competitive 11g and 11n USB solutions, the Atheros integrated CPU offloads the wireless processing overhead from the host appliance. This design breakthrough enables consumer electronics devices with host processors not originally intended to support wireless functions, to now offer robust Wi-Fi performance. With the AR9271's innovative host offload capability, the WLAN operates autonomously and enables the main device application to operate seamlessly.
