Atheros preps combo 802.11n, Bluetooth 4 chip for tablets
updated 11:45 am EST, Tue January 4, 2011
Atheros AR6233 brings Bluetooth 4 and N Wi-Fi
Atheros at CES brought out a combination wireless chipset that could significantly improve the speed of smartphones and tablets. Its AR6233 merges both 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 and reportedly provides the extra features of both without an extra hit to the battery. The 802.11n portion can reach up to 85Mbps downstream and is rare in having 5GHz support that can keep it out of the crowded 2.4GHz space.
Bluetooth 4.0 combines the earlier carriage mode, which can use Bluetooth to discover a connection but uses Wi-Fi to transfer, and a new very low-power mode. The more recent addition lets it talk to sensors or other devices that only need to periodically send out data or might send just a small amount.
Support is broad and includes both ARM and x86 processors as well as most any modern platform, such as Android or Windows. Production samples for the AR6233 are already rolling out now, with production slated to start in earnest by spring. Customers haven't been named, but Apple, Dell and other major computer and mobile device makers often use Atheros hardware.
