I don’t normally think of Qualcomm as a Wi-Fi chip provider. The company’s strength is clearly 3G CDMA cellular radios and related products. However, its new 802.11n chips have leaped to the forefront of Wi-Fi products.

The WCN1320 N-Stream wireless local-area network (WLAN) chip implements 4-by-4 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) in both the 2.4- and 5-GHz Wi-Fi bands, giving it a maximum potential data rate of 600 Mbits/s. Along with its reference designs, it’s designed for consumer electronics such as access points, set-top boxes, and media-centric products where streaming media comes into play.

The chip uses 65-nm CMOS to package four transceivers for 2.4 and 5 GHz (in both 20- and 40-MHz bandwidth modes), an embedded MIPS 24KE processor, a media access controller (MAC), digital baseband, and power management into a 12- by 12-mm package. Interfaces include PCI Express and 10/100/1000 Ethernet as well as support for SDRAM and flash.

The WCN1320 is compatible with 802.11a/b/d/e/g/h/i/n. Security support is provided for WPA2, WPA, WEP, and AES. The chip includes Wi-Fi protected setup. Available reference designs include AP/Router, Gigabit Ethernet Adapter, and PCIe Module. Sampling begins in the second quarter of 2009.

The single-chip WCN1312 802.11n is designed for cellular handsets and other mobile devices. It includes a 2.4-GHz baseband processor, a MAC, an RF transceiver, a transmit power amplifier, a low-noise receive amplifier, a transmit/receive switch, a power coupler, and an RF band pass filter all in a 7- by 7-mm package. The chip was designed specifically to eliminate or minimize the external component count.

Made with 65-nm CMOS, the WCN1312 incorporates advanced power-management techniques to minimize sleep, standby, and active power consumption. It’s optimized for use with Qualcomm’s Mobile Station Modem (MSM) designs. It also supports a variety of other mobile operating systems (OSs), including Brew, Android, and Windows Mobile.

The chip is the first to support both the 1-by-1 and the 1-by-2 dual receive configuration to increase range and data throughput, according to the company. Qualcomm also claims a maximum data rate of 72 Mbits/s, which is well beyond the normal 54 Mbits/s of 11n. The WCN1312 implements an advanced coexistence architecture and algorithms to ensure optimized performance when used with Qualcomm’s Bluetooth products as well.

The WCN1312 begins sampling in the second quarter of 2009 with full volume production expected in the fourth quarter or 2009.

Qualcomm Inc.