Atheros Communications, Inc. announced yesterday that it is the first company to receive the Microsoft Designed for Windows XP Logo Program certification for an 802.11a product. The Atheros AR5000 CardBus Reference Board earned the certification, indicating compatibility with the XP operating system.
The CardBus is based on the AR5000 chipset, which provides connectivity in the IEEE 802.11a 5 GHz range. The chipset consists of two individual chips fabricated in standard digital CMOS. The AR5000 supports data transfer rates of up to 54 Mbps compliant with the 802.11a standard, and higher rates in the Atheros Turbo Mode.
Atheros pointed out that the CardBus reference design, which is available for OEM use, is also approved for use on Win 2000, Win Me, Win 98, and Win NT 4.0 systems.
The XP Logo Program certification comes at a time when compatibility, authentication, and licensing issues with the new Microsoft OS are a significant issue in the industry. Windows XP itself touts a much improved wireless experience for users, including built-in support for WLANs and IEEE 802.1x security standards. Other enhancements include Auto Configuration support, enabling auto detection of WLANs by mobile users with the appropriate network card. Microsoft also claims that XP users with cars will not have to manually configure network ID settings and re-login when they roam across WLANs.
Matthew Peretz is Managing Editor of 802.11-Planet.com
