[July 18, 2008] Freescale and Arada Systems Collaborate to Create Design for Access Point Devices Tweet (Wireless News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Freescale Semiconductor and Arada Systems have collaborated to create a production-ready reference design offered to help the development of concurrent 802.11n access point devices. According to company officials, the solution supports advanced 802.11n features such as security, QoS and multiple SSID for both video and VoIP applications. The reference design uses Freescale's MPC8377E-RDB platform to deliver more than 330 Mbps of TCP/IP throughput in the combined 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bands, while providing enough processing power to address other enterprise-class applications. "Partnering with Arada allows us to offer our customers a proven, production-ready solution that provides industry leading performance for 802.11n enterprise WLAN access points," said Altaf Hussain, marketing manager with Freescale Semiconductor's Networking Systems Division. "This solution gives manufacturers the components they need to rapidly create compelling new products that succeed in the marketplace." The companies noted that running on the Freescale silicon is Arada's AWS software, which is a architecture ideal for a range of Wi-Fi products including wireless bridges, wireless routers and triple-play gateway applications. AWS features Atheros Draft 802.11n XSPAN technology. The modular architecture of the AWS software allows customers to focus on high value tasks while relying on the robust architecture and implementation of the MAC layer functionalities. "Arada Systems is excited to venture in this partnership with a world-class company like Freescale," said Praveen Singh, president and chief executive officer of Arada Systems. "There is tremendous growth expected in 802.11n within emerging applications, and Freescale's architecture allows us to exploit many features including PCI- and PCI Express-ready capabilities." Freescale noted the MPC8377E-RDB is a highly integrated reference design board created to speed time to market. The platform features 256 MB unbuffered DDR2 SDRAM, 8 MB NOR flash and 32 MB NAND flash, where the platform can boot from either NOR or NAND flash. It includes both a Gigabit PHY and a 5-port Ethernet switch, as well as support for a PCI Express add in connector and a MiniPCI Express slot. The platform supports two Serial-ATA II (SATA II) connectors and has a 4-port USB hub or a 1-port USB on-the-go (OTG). Arada Systems is a software stack vendor that offers advanced wireless solutions based on Atheros' Wi-Fi chipsets. Freescale Semiconductor is involved in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) ((Distributed on behalf of 10Meters via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com)) ((10Meters - http://www.10meters.com)) Copyright ? 2008 Wireless News [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]