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PRESS RELEASES
SANTA CLARA, April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Atheros Communications,
Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHR), a leading developer of advanced wireless and wired
network communications solutions, today announced a new member of its
Radio-on-Chip for Mobile (ROCm(R)) family of GPS solutions -- a hardware and
software GPS combination that targets mobile phones, Personal Navigation
Devices (PNDs) and Personal Media Players (PMPs).
Atheros' new solution consists of its second-generation, single-chip GPS
receiver, the AR1511, and companion ORION 3.0 software suite. This combination
is ideally suited for integrating advanced navigation functions into mobile
devices, with state-of-the-art Assisted GPS (AGPS) technology, advanced
parallel search, and industry-leading tracking sensitivity of -160dBm, which
together enable the most rapid and accurate location determination while
conserving device battery power.
Atheros' latest ROCm GPS offering provides developers with turnkey,
high-performance options for both standalone and host-dependent designs. This
platform flexibility enables customers to design a wide variety of
location-aware devices and form factors, giving Atheros a significantly
expanded GPS market opportunity.
The AR1511 and ORION 3.0 solution contains new patent-pending features
specifically designed to address the most challenging navigation environments.
These enhancements provide considerable performance advances with Time To
First Fix (TTFF) reacquisition times reduced by nearly half, and positional
accuracy increased by more than 50 percent.
"With the AR1511 and ORION 3.0 combo, Atheros is delivering
state-of-the-art AGPS for today's cell phone, PND and PMP users, enabling
quicker fix times that result in extended battery life," said Greg Winner,
general manager of Atheros' GPS business unit. "Unlike most GPS silicon
providers, we offer both standalone and hosted designs that enable our
customers to add GPS to virtually any type of mobile consumer device."
"Over 1.6 billion handsets are expected to ship with GPS between 2008 and
2011. With this growing penetration of GPS in handsets and other mobile
products, it is more critical than ever that solution providers meet the
consumer demand for high-performance navigation that's easy on battery life,"
said Morry Marshall, Partner -- Strategic Technologies, Semiconductor Partners
LLC. "Atheros, with its proven ROCm low-power techniques and new AGPS
innovations, is well positioned in the emerging mobile GPS market."
Atheros ROCm Combo Delivers High-Performance AGPS
Atheros' Assisted GPS (AGPS) options speed navigation in challenging
environments -- indoors, in urban canyons and in other locations where
broadcast satellite signals are obscured. AGPS can also accelerate the
navigation process in conditions where broadcast ephemeris is available, by
quickly securing location information from non-broadcast sources, thus
reducing power consumed in satellite search mode.
> Real-time ephemeris through cellular networks
Mobile networks can enable handsets with ephemeris data, satellite
orbital information, more quickly than it can be downloaded directly
from the satellites. The AR1511 and ORION 3.0 combo provides GSM
handsets with AGPS, exceeding the industry-standard 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications and the Secure User Plane
for Location (SUPL) requirements, which facilitate communications
between satellite location servers and GSM handsets.
Bluetooth(R)-enabled PNDs and PMPs can also access cellular-based
ephemeris by connecting through a nearby handset.
> Real-time ephemeris through the Internet
Atheros' new solution also provides conventional AGPS, access to
real-time ephemeris over the Internet for PNDs, PMPs, and
PCs-virtually any location-aware device that has Internet access
over Wi-Fi. This allows GPS devices to have intermittent
connectivity to real-time, Internet-accessed ephemeris when in the
presence of a Wi-Fi access point, thus enabling accelerated location
fixes, enhanced accuracy and reduced battery power.
> Extended Ephemeris when real-time access is unavailable
Atheros' AR1511 and ORION 3.0 combo also supports extended
ephemeris, stored satellite orbital data, for any location-aware
device. This feature leverages RX Networks GPStream(TM) technology
to accelerate TTFF and reacquisition times with high location
accuracy. Extended ephemeris can be downloaded using wired or
wireless connections from Internet- or cellular-based servers. The
data is stored and provides tracking ability for up to seven days,
minimizing the device's need to scan the sky or frequently access
networks to obtain real-time location information. The GPStream
technology delivers ephemeris in highly compact 2KB files versus
competitive solutions which employ bulky 40-50KB files, reducing the
system memory requirement and demand on service provider networks.
Like other forms of AGPS, extended ephemeris provides the added
benefit of prolonging battery life through quicker location fixes.
Atheros' ROCm portfolio, consisting of mobile solutions for all AGPS
connectivity modes, including GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, provides design and
performance synergies to readily enhance the design process and user
experience.
Fast Location Acquisition through Advanced Parallel Search
The AR1511/ORION 3.0 combo features Atheros' patent-pending advanced
parallel search, which utilizes eight search engines teamed with 12 highly
sensitive tracking engines. This enhanced approach to search results in
significant performance advantages - reducing reacquisition time by nearly
half and increasing positional accuracy by more than 50 percent in challenging
environments. Atheros' unique search capability offers considerably lower
power consumption versus competitive solutions that rely on thousands of
correlators to calculate positioning, resulting in prolonged searches.
GPS Options for Hosted and Standalone Designs
Atheros latest GPS solutions provide enhanced design flexibility with
multiple options for either standalone or host-dependent applications.
* AR1511 -- Available in a 5mm x 5mm CSP for standalone and hosted
configurations, or a 10mm x 10mm BGA package for standalone and
hosted configurations on low-cost PCBs
* AR1511F -- 7mm x 7mm BGA package with integrated DSP and stacked
flash die for small form factor standalone configurations
This AR1511F delivers GPS functionality without taxing the host processor
and memory, and eliminates the need for dedicated Flash or fixed ROM. The chip
provides significant advantages over competitive ROM-based solutions, with SDK
support, selectable profiles and the ability to easily update software.
Macronix is partnered with Atheros to provide the cost-efficient 1.8V, 8Mb
MX29SL802CBXHI-90G flash option for standalone applications.
Atheros' new GPS solutions also employ worldwide satellite-based
augmentation systems (SBAS) to ensure the greatest accuracy, integrity and
availability of GPS information within specific geographies. Systems supported
by the ORION 3.0 software include WAAS (North America), MSAS (Japan), and
EGNOS (Europe).
Product Availability
The AR1511 CSP package is pin-compatible to the uN3010 CSP package and
provides an easy migration path from any existing design based on Atheros'
first-generation, single-chip GPS solution. The AR1511/ORION 3.0 will sample
to customers in the second quarter of 2008.
About Atheros Communications, Inc.
Atheros Communications is a leading developer of semiconductor system
solutions for wireless and wired communications products. Atheros combines its
wireless and networking systems expertise with high-performance radio
frequency (RF), mixed signal and digital semiconductor design skills to
provide highly integrated chipsets that are manufactured on low-cost, standard
complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes. Atheros technology
is used by a broad base of leading customers, including personal computer,
networking equipment and consumer device manufacturers. For more information,
please visit http://www.atheros.com or send email to info@atheros.com.
Atheros, the Atheros logo, ROCm and ORION are trademarks of Atheros
Communications, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the
sole property of their respective owners.
NOTE ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set
forth in this press release, including the features, benefits and performance
of Atheros' GPS and other products, and the anticipated growth of the market
for GPS in handsets and handheld mobile devices, are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including,
but not limited to, difficulties in the development of new and enhanced
products, general economic conditions, the effects of any changes in
government regulations that may occur, and the risks detailed in Atheros'
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 2007, as filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other reports filed with the SEC by
Atheros from time to time. These forward-looking statements speak only as of
the date hereof. Atheros disclaims any obligation to update these forward-
looking statements.
Although we believe that the forward-looking statistical information from
Semiconductor Partners is reliable, we have not independently verified this
data. Semiconductor Partners generally indicates that it has obtained its
information from sources believed to be reliable, but does not guarantee the
accuracy and completeness of the information.
SOURCE Atheros Communications, Inc.
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