Atheros, Broadcom cut the power of speedy Wi-Fi

Broadcom Corp. and Atheros Communications Inc. each introduced new chip sets for connecting notebooks to wireless networks, emphasizing the reduced power consumption of their new products.

Both companies manufacture the silicon that notebook vendors use to offer built-in wireless capabilities. The new products improve the power consumption of wireless networks that operate on the 802.11a and 802.11g standards, both companies said.

Those standards enable wireless download speeds as fast as 54Mbps, but can drain the batteries of notebooks and handhelds relatively quickly. With their new products, Broadcom and Atheros claim to have reduced the power consumption of high-speed wireless chip sets to less than the power consumed by many lower-speed 802.11b chip sets.

The Atheros chip sets come in two varieties, one that supports 802.11b and 802.11g networks, and one that supports those two standards plus 802.11a networks. By using a new multiphase signal processing technique, the chip sets consume 20 percent less power during transmit mode than Intel Corp.’s Pro/Wireless chip for 802.11b networks, and 95 percent less power in idle mode, Atheros claimed.

Broadcom compared its new 802.11a and combination 802.11a/802.11g chip sets to Intel’s Centrino package of the Pentium M processor, a mobile chip set and the Intel Pro/Wireless 2100 chip. The battery in a notebook using one of Broadcom’s new wireless chips will last 20 minutes longer than a battery in a Centrino notebook, according to Broadcom.

Intel has yet to release a chip based on the faster 802.11 standards. It announced last week that its 802.11a chip won’t be out until October, and the company isn’t expected to deliver a combination 802.11b/802.11g chip until the end of this year, months after products from Atheros, Broadcom and others.

The new Atheros chip sets are available in volume immediately to its partners. The AR5004X works with all three wireless standards, and the AR5004G supports 802.11g and 802.11b networks. Broadcom’s chip sets are also immediately available to its partners.