Wi-Fi chip pushes 1.7Gbps over four streams using 802.11ac standard
Quantenna today announced an 802.11ac Wi-Fi chipset that pushes 1.7Gbps of data over four wireless streams.
The first chips based on the 802.11ac standard hit 1.3Gbps last year by creating three streams of 433Mbps each. (With the older 802.11n standard, the maximum throughput for a single stream is 150Mbps.) Quantenna's QSR1000 chips based on 802.11ac are thus a minor evolution over what was already available, using Multi-user MIMO technology with four spatial streams to hit 1.7Gbps.
The new Quantenna chips will be available to manufacturers in Q3 2013, but there's no word on availability of wireless routers using the chips. "The chip is designed for home routers as well as for enterprises in need of wire-like reliability," a Quantenna spokesperson told Ars. Quantenna's announcement said the chips will be "equally at home in access points, set-top boxes, and consumer electronics."
