WLAN Plus Bluetooth Chip offers host offload capability.
Press Release Summary:
With footprint under 80 mm³, Marvell 88W8688 is 90 nm CMOS WLAN plus Bluetooth single chip solution that helps extend battery life of consumer electronics devices. Integration of Bluetooth 2.0 EDR and 802.11a/b/g WLAN subsystems on single die allows fully optimized simultaneous dual radio operation and cooperative co-existence. Built on embedded Layer 2 and Layer 3 software, chip offers seamless bridging between WiFi and Bluetooth and has integrated multi-protocol security engine.
Original Press Release:
Marvell Introduces World's First WLAN Plus Bluetooth Single Chip Solution for High Volume Consumer Markets
90nm CMOS Chip Sets a New Standard for Ultra-low-power, Integrated, Converged Wireless Systems and Extends Marvell's Consumer Leadership
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 17 -- Marvell(R), (NASDAQ:MRVL), the leader in storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions, today announced the world's first 90-nm CMOS, WLAN plus Bluetooth single chip solution for cellular handsets, battery-powered media players, portable gaming consoles, smartphones, PDAs and ultra-low-power computing platforms. Expanding on the Company's growing success in offering low-power, small footprint WLAN solutions to the consumer market, Marvell leads the industry with the first WLAN plus Bluetooth solution that offers leading edge integration, extensive host offload capability and advanced co-existence and power save modes -- with a footprint of less than 80 mm3. The Marvell 88W8688 will dramatically extend the battery life of consumer electronics devices, enabling a new level of mobile consumer broadband experience.
"The Marvell 88W8688 represents five years of interaction with our customers and partners. We are very pleased to deliver a new, fully customizable, software compatible platform that will allow them to launch products that are varied in scope and application ranging from gaming to cameras to smartphones up to emerging converged products," said Dr. Paramesh Gopi, Vice President and General Manager of the Embedded and Emerging Business Unit, Communications and Consumer Business Group at Marvell. "The Marvell 88W8688 marks our fourth generation complimentary wireless solution and offers an extremely competitive cost structure thereby enabling mass adoption of both technologies into all tiers of consumer electronics."
The Marvell 88W8688 builds on the Company's field proven, robust embedded Layer 2 (MAC) and Layer 3 software that has powered numerous consumer wireless platforms. The integration of Bluetooth 2.0 EDR -- which is firmware upgradeable to Bluetooth 2.1 features -- and WLAN subsystems on a single die allows fully optimized simultaneous dual radio operation and cooperative co-existence. The Marvell 88W8688 platform enables the Company to provide ecosystem solutions by offering seamless bridging between WiFi and Bluetooth -- ultimately enhancing the consumer's experience.
The Marvell 88W8688 is the first device to deliver a fully integrated Bluetooth 2.0 EDR baseband/RF and Marvell's market-proven 802.11a/b/g WLAN technology for next generation consumer electronic devices. The Marvell 88W8688 enables a converged WLAN plus Bluetooth subsystem implementation that is up to 50% smaller than discrete implementations. The integrated multi- protocol security engine includes hardware acceleration for UMA, IMS, and other network access methods requiring extensible end-to-end security. Following on Marvell's ground breaking embedded client architecture, the Marvell 88W8688 incorporates full Layer 3 networking support (TCP/IP + UDP) and adds the ability to run supplicants natively, offloading WLAN functionality from the host CPU. Additionally, the Marvell 88W8688 incorporates voice and audio codecs that can be used in a wide variety of media applications and platforms.
Marvell's advanced fourth generation co-existence algorithms ensure zero compromise voice and stereo Bluetooth functionality with complete WLAN operation. Marvell's ultra-low-power Bluetooth architecture leverages four generations of 2.4GHz WLAN high-performance radios and provides dramatic improvements in Bluetooth range and connection quality. The Marvell 88W8688 supports all Bluetooth profiles with an industry standard HCI interface. The device runs Bluetooth profiles natively, offloading the host CPU. The Marvell 88W8688 can be connected to a host processor using either a unified host interface or independent host interfaces for WLAN and Bluetooth connections.
Marvell is the recognized leader in the embedded consumer WLAN market with more than 70% market share. Marvell revolutionized WLAN with the introduction of consumer-grade, embedded WLAN solutions for gaming, single and dual-mode mobile handsets, PDAs, digital cameras, portable media players, and printing platforms. As a result, Marvell has enabled its tier-one OEM customers to successfully introduce industry-leading products into the gaming, cell-phone, imaging, and PDA markets. Building on this track record of success, the Marvell 88W8688 represents a new generation of leading-edge converged complimentary wireless products, and significant investment in silicon and embedded software development.
Availability
The Marvell 88W8688 is currently being sampled to key, tier one OEM partners. To shorten design cycles and accelerate time-to-market, Marvell is providing development kits with complete hardware reference designs, development boards and a complete suite of software.
About Marvell
Marvell is the leader in storage, communications and consumer silicon solutions. The Company's diverse product portfolio includes switching, transceiver, communications controller, wireless, and storage solutions that power the entire communications infrastructure, including enterprise, metro, home, and storage networking. As used in this release, the terms "Company" and "Marvell" refer to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries, including Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. (MSI), Marvell Asia Pte Ltd (MAPL), Marvell Japan K.K., Marvell Taiwan Ltd., Marvell International Ltd. (MIL), Marvell U.K. Limited, Marvell Semiconductor Israel Ltd. (MSIL), RADLAN Computer Communications Ltd., and SysKonnect GmbH. MSI is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and designs, develops and markets products on behalf of MIL and MAPL. MSI may be contacted at 408-222-2500 or at www.marvell.com.
NOTE: Marvell(R) and the Marvell logo are trademarks of Marvell. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For further information, contact:
Diane Vanasse
Marvell
408-242-0027
dvanasse@marvell.com
