Stuart Corner
Monday, 04 December 2006 16:58
IT Industry -
Deals
Page 1 of 2
Qualcomm has announced plans to acquire wireless LAN technology company Airgo Networks and the majority of RF Micro Devices' (RFMD) Bluetooth assets to enhance its ability to deliver complete semiconductor solutions for wireless devices and on the same day announced new chip products incorporating these technologies.
According to Chris Ambrosio, director of wireless device strategies for Strategy Analytics, "As the attach rate for Bluetooth and WLAN features in mobile handsets is poised to grow past the critical tipping point, these acquisitions become very timely. With Qualcomm now having the technologies of Airgo and RFMD's Bluetooth business in-house, manufacturers will have access to more integrated solutions - chipsets that deliver expanded, seamless connectivity with enhanced performance and space savings."
Qualcomm says it will continue Airgo's existing business and will integrate Airgo's 802.11a/b/g and 802.11n technology into its Mobile Station Modem chipsets. It will also use this technology for chipsets on the
new Snapdragon platform, which is designed to offer ubiquitous mobile broadband connectivity.
Simultaneous with the Airgo acquisition, Qualcomm announced the availability of "the world's first chipset offering full support for Draft 2.0 of the IEEE 802.11n standard."
The AGN400 chipset is the fourth generation 802.11n-compliant chipset from Airgo Networks and features Airgo's True MIMO Gen-N technology that exploits Airgo's patented innovations in multiple antenna technology to extend the effective range and bolster data throughput for consumer Wi-Fi and next-generation wireless digital home entertainment devices.
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