AtherosAr6003
Latest
Atheros brings 802.11n to cellphones with AR6003, is one antenna short of a pair
802.11n is a wonderful thing, providing 144Mbps bandwidth and reliable connections over impressive distances, but part of that wonder comes thanks to a reliance on dual antennas. Twice the antennas means twice the streams (MIMO, ya dig?), but Atheros has decided to ditch one for its new mobile-friendly AR6003 chip. It's a power-saving move called "one-stream 11n," and while we've seen it before that doesn't mean we have to like it. Atheros's solution provides a maximum throughput of 85Mbps, which is frankly nothing to shake a stick at, and despite that will suck down 20 percent less power than its earlier AR6002 802.11a/b/g chip. In other words, we'll rock it in our celly -- begrudgingly.
