Atheros Releases AR7400 Chipset Powerline Solution to Support IEEE 1901 Standard

Atheros Communications, Inc. has released AR7400 chipset, the first powerline communications solution designed to comply with the IEEE (News - Alert) 1901 draft standard. The AR7400 chipset interoperates with both 1901 and HomePlug AV-based products.

 

The AR7400 chipset offers standards-plus, extended spectrum operation to deliver more than 500 Mbps PHY rates as well as a 2.5 times improvement over currently deployed HomePlug AV products. The Atheros (News - Alert) AMP Powerline Technology AR7400 chipset also features a faster processor, Gigabit Ethernet-ready high-speed host interface and enhanced analog front end, optimized for streaming HD media applications. These enhancements enable faster powerline connections using the home’s electrical wiring.

 

The AR7400 chipset will enable service providers to deploy a higher performance class of entertainment-grade networks that ensure reliable IPTV transmissions and HD coverage throughout the home. At the same time, it will eliminate costly trouble shooting and service calls. According to Brian McGee, vice president and general manager of Atheros’ powerline business unit, to be an effective and useful solution, it must be standards-based to ensure interoperability, deliver application-capable throughput across the entire home and meet industry standards for ‘green’ power efficiency. The AR7400 chipset fulfills all of these.

 

Atheros AMP Powerline and XSPAN Wi-Fi solutions provide a combination of connectivity that increases the home’s network to a Gigabit of total capacity. That is, the bandwidth and coverage of an Atheros AMP/XSPAN network will meet even the most intensive demands of the digital home.

 

The Atheros Powerline chipset consists of the AR7400 MAC/PHY transceiver and the AR1500 analog front end/line driver. It supports operation up to 75 MHz, utilizing the available spectrum defined in the 100 MHz IEEE 1901 charter. When this extended frequency range is coupled with high density modulation to 4096 QAM, AR7400-based powerline products can communicate at more than 500 Mbps PHY rates. The AR7400 chipset also complies with the European Code of Conduct on Energy Efficiency and the European Union’s Energy-using Products Directive for low power, green energy operation.

 

The AR7400 has an integrated ARM11 core processor and includes MII, RGMII, and GMII to support Ethernet PHYs along with UART and SPI serial interfaces for Smart Grid applications. It supports both SDRAM and DDR memory and includes a high-performance, hardware-based packet classification engine to support carrier-grade quality of service, dynamic channel adaptation and channel estimation to maximize throughput in harsh powerline conditions.