Qualcomm Atheros today said it started rolling out Qualcomm VIVE 4-stream 802.11ac solutions with multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) to improve Wi-Fi performance of connected devices in homes, offices and public hotspots.
Qualcomm Atheros’ innovative algorithm-based technology enables the new solutions to offer two to three times more network capacity.
The company said Qualcomm Atheros’ algorithm-based MU-MIMO is designed to dynamically adapt to changes in channel conditions, device movement and application requirements to maximize throughput and device performance.
Vendors of smartphones, tablets, computers, consumer electronics and automobiles will benefit from the new MU-MIMO technology that must be used on both sides of the connection.
Qualcomm Atheros is introducing the QCA9980 and QCA9982 solutions for routers and gateways, and the QCA9990 and QCA9992 solutions for enterprise access points.
These 3- and 4-stream, single-chip solutions feature MU-MIMO, 256-QAM modulation, and explicit and implicit beamforming to meet carrier and enterprise requirements for next-generation performance and agility to support more connected devices. The QCA998x and QCA999x are expected to sample in the second quarter of 2014, Qualcomm said.
Latest smartphones are using 1-stream 11ac, while many mobile, CE and vehicles are moving to 2-stream 11ac to accommodate more bandwidth-intensive media applications. Because the necessary receiver hardware is built into Qualcomm VIVE 11ac solutions for smartphones, tablets, connected TVs and other media devices, customers can transition their next designs to support the MU-MIMO features.
MU-MIMO is built into all of Qualcomm Atheros’ latest 11ac client solutions, and is supported on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 and 801 mobile processors.
The QCA6174, designed for tablets and high-end smartphones, combines 2-stream 11ac with Bluetooth4.1 to provide more than 600 Mbps throughput to handle the most demanding media downloads and streaming needs over Wi-Fi.
Qualcomm Atheros’ WCN3680 integrates 1-stream 11ac, Bluetooth 4.1 and FM into Snapdragon mobile processors, providing low-power connectivity for smartphones and tablets from vendors.
The QCA9378 is Qualcomm Atheros’ new 2-stream VIVE solution for connected TVs, set-top boxes and other entertainment devices. It is designed to provide better experiences for 4k video, gaming, audio and other latency-sensitive media applications.
The QCA6574 is the first automotive solution to combine 2-stream 11ac and Bluetooth 4.1 for in-car communication, media infotainment and point-to-point connections.
