Atheros Communications, Inc., announced two new designs which extend the company's Gigabit Ethernet portfolio - its second-generation GbE Controller, the AR8121, and its first 6-port GbE Switch, the AR8316. PC, retail networking and gateway markets are rapidly adopting GbE technology, driven by the growing appetite of consumers and enterprises for bandwidth, and the increasing popularity of triple-play applications - combined data, voice, and video operating on a home network. Product Availability The AR8121 GbE Controller and AR8316 6-port GbE Switch are currently sampling and will be in volume production in the first quarter of 2008.

    These are the newest members of the Atheros ETHOS portfolio which provides the company's PC, retail networking and carrier equipment customers with Atheros-designed Ethernet solutions. ETHOS brand technologies leverage Atheros' mixed-signal and analog design expertise honed in its industry-leading WLAN portfolio to deliver superior performance and value in the Ethernet market.

    The performance benefits of GbE are so clear that it is quickly becoming the de facto standard in networking systems and PC platforms. The Atheros AR8121 is the industry's smallest, most highly integrated PCI Express Gigabit Controller designed to meet the size, performance and cost requirements of the consumer laptop and desktop PC market.

    Atheros' second-generation GbE controller is available in an ultra-compact 48-pin QFN package, measuring only 36mm2. In comparison, the nearest competitive solution is more than twice the size. The highly integrated AR8121 has the industry's lowest external component count. Despite its compact size and high integration, the AR8121 delivers industry-leading GbE performance and power savings.

    "With the addition of the AR8121 and AR8316 Gigabit solutions to our rapidly expanding ETHOS portfolio, we continue to demonstrate our commitment and focus to bring Atheros' engineering assets to the Ethernet industry, said Jason Zheng, vice president, Asia Pacific for Atheros. "Our new GbE Controller and Switch solutions set new benchmarks in footprint, power consumption and price."

    The AR8121 features a deep sleep mode which consumes only 20mW when the network cable is disconnected, saving battery power in laptops. The power savings offered by the AR8121 enables PC OEMs and ODMs to meet and exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star 4.0 specification, among the industry's most stringent power requirements. The AR8121 achieves substantial power savings through efficiencies derived from its miniature size combined with several advanced modes to enhance its industry-leading low power consumption. For example, a laptop consumes less than 700mW in GbE operation.

    The home and SMB networking markets are also quickly making the switch to GbE technology, particularly to support the performance of the growing number of 802.11n products. With the highly cost-effective AR8316 GbE Switch, Atheros is facilitating its customers' transition to Gigabit Ethernet-enabled wireless routers, access points and gateways.

    The design also features advanced power-saving mechanisms which dynamically adjust power based on port usage. This proprietary feature results in additional power savings, and reduces the solution's thermal requirement. The AR8316 delivers power advantages over existing GbE switching platform solutions. Its integrated PHYs consume less than 3W, enabling the AR8316 to utilize a lower-cost LQFP package instead of a more costly BGA package used by most competing solutions. The AR8316 features five integrated GbE PHYs. The AR8316, like its predecessor, the AR8216 Fast Ethernet switch, supports an advanced QoS architecture which prioritizes switch traffic for different classes of applications, such as voice traffic for IP phones, video traffic for multimedia and data traffic for e-mail.