Atheros Communications announced today that Sony Corporation is integrating its 802.11a WLAN technology into its upcoming PC and consumer electronics products.
Specifically, Atheros reported that Sony has integrated the Atheros AR5000 chipset into new 5GH wireless LAN PC card and access point products designed for the VAIO line of products. Sony stated that its PCWA-C500 PC Card and PCWA-A500 Access Point will be available in Japan beginning on November 3. U.S. availability is expected to be in or around the first quarter of 2002.
The companies said that the partnership should yield 5GHz-enabled consumer electronics products in addition to the PC products.
The AR5000 chipset from Atheros is an integrated, two-chip set with Radio-on-a-Chip (RoC) and MAC/baseband processor fabricated in standard-process digital CMOS. The chipset supports all standard 802.11 data rates up to 54 Mbps and the Atheros Turbo mode with its extended range up to 72 Mbps.
Matthew Peretz is Managing Editor of 802.11-Planet.com