May 6, 2008 -- Broadband wireless networking provider SparkLAN and Ralink Technology, a developer of 802.11x chipsets, have collaborated to produce an IEEE 802.11n Mini-PCI module based on the Ralink RT2880 SoC chipset.
Targeting wireless product developers bringing multimedia (data/voice/video) applications to the market, SparkLAN adds the Ralink RT2880-based Mini-PCI modules to its Wireless-N family. New products include the 4/5GHz dual-band (WMIR-270N) and 2.4 GHz single-band (WMIR-269GN) Mini-PCI modules.
Both modules employ the RT2880 SoC, which combines 2T3R [2 Transmit 3 Receive] MAC/BBP capability and a MIPS 266 MHz core that offloads CPU loading. The modules are designed to boost the efficiency of HD video streaming applications running in IP set top boxes, digital TVs, VoIP gateways, xDSL/Cable modems, DVRs, digital media adapters, multimedia gateways, and home theater systems.
"We are very excited in working with Ralink to offer this cutting-edge product as part of our embedded systems solutions," comments Mike Chen, CEO of SparkLAN. "We always consider our customers' feedback, as they complained that the AP/STA code of 802.11n takes up too much CPU utilization. In response to customers' requests for an affordable high performance embedded module, we believe Ralink's RT2880-based Mini-PCI module is among the best choices."
"RT2880 has fully addressed the CPU loading problem for multimedia applications with 802.11n capabilities, and provides the best wireless user experience," adds Rick Jeng, president of Ralink Technology. "We are glad that SparkLAN is ready to help customers to develop a myriad of bandwidth demanding applications with the advantage of 802.11n."
SparkLAN is Ralink's authorized partner to sub-license driver source code (subject to licensing agreements) and offer technical assistance.
