AR9485

Industry’s greenest 1x1 Single-Chip

802.11n PCI Express® CMOS
MAC/Baseband/Radio
 AR9485
Industry’s greenest 1x1 Single-Chip 802.11n
PCI Express CMOS MAC/Baseband/Radio

Qualcomm Align® Technology Overview

The AR9485 single-chip PCI Express solution features Qualcomm Align
Qualcomm offers the 1-stream 802.11n. Align solutions are available in reference designs to
serve the networking, computing and consumer electronics markets.
industry's most innovative
and complete portfolio of Align employs all the mandatory and select optional features of the 11n
specification, and Qualcomm’s advanced radio design techniques. The
802.11n wireless LAN chip solutions. AR9485 leverages unprecedented silicon integration and an advanced
55nm design to offer the industry’s lowest power consumption and
manufacturing costs – making it the “greenest” WLAN solution on the
market. The new AR9485 extends Qualcomm’s family of Align 1-stream
802.11n solutions, which are featured in 9 of the top 10 PC brands.
Solution Highlights
Building upon Qualcomm’s historic leadership in the computing market,
£ Highly integrated single chip PCI Express solution
Qualcomm has re-designed the WLAN architecture to deliver even
MAC/baseband processor and 2.4 GHz radio greater benefits for PC manufacturers and consumers alike. By cutting the
£ Supports up to 150 Mbps Data Rate power consumption in half, the AR9485 is enabling best-in-class wireless
£ Backward-compatible to 802.11g; forward-compatible to features with a greatly-reduced impact on the battery life of mobile PCs.
multi-stream 802.11n
£ Supports all mandatory IEEE 802.11n features, including
Technology Overview
several optional features such as HT40, half-guard interval The highly-integrated AR9485 targets the value computing market.
in HT40 and Rx Space Time Block Coding (STBC) The AR9485 provides a complete WLAN solution–media access
£ Compliant with IEEE 802.11b, 802.11d, 802.11e, 802.11g standards controller (MAC), baseband, and a high–performance 2.4 GHz radio
and 802.11i specification in a low–cost digital CMOS design.
£ Highly compact, small footprint package
The AR9485 is backward compatible to 802.11b/g and forward compatible
£ Optimal BOM cost with integrated power amplifier,
to multi-stream 11n. Targeting the growing value computing products
low noise amplifier, Tx/Rx switch, memory, regulator, etc. market segment with 150 Mbps PHY rates, Align is the ideal technology
£ PCI Express Based Specification 1.1 compliant for computing users seeking robust throughput, enhanced range and
£ Supports Wake on Wireless LAN (WoW) extended battery life for data networking applications as well as P2P
£ Low power sleep modes supported
applications.
£ Wi-Fi Alliance CERTIFIED
The AR9485 offers the industry’s lowest power consumption – 30 to
50 percent lower than comparable solutions. Such significant power
savings are the result of Qualcomm’s enhanced PHY architecture,
AR9485 Architecture 55nm design and efficient power amplifiers. The new products also
2.4 GHz
use a unique Green Transmission mode, which dynamically adjusts
the system’s Wi-Fi transmit power depending on the distance between
the router and the client device.
Combiner Rx Radio ADC
MAC/ The unmatched silicon integration eliminates the need for external
LC
Network
Tx Radio DAC Baseband
Configuration/
Control/
40 MHz
Crystal
power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), a transmit/receive switch
Memory and several other components to reduce bill of material (BOM) costs
Frequency by up to 30 percent, compared to previous solutions.
Synthesizers PCI
Host and Express
Peripheral
Bias Control Interface GPIOs
Wi-Fi Direct Support
AR9485 also includes Qualcomm Direct Connect™ peer-to-peer
technology, which enables PCs to easily connect with Wi-Fi enabled
printers, cameras, and other peripherals – without an access point or
broadband connection. Direct Connect brings unprecedented
convenience and simplicity to Wi-Fi devices and lets people do more
with their wireless products.
 Industry’s greenest 1x1 Single-Chip 802.11n PCI Express CMOS MAC/Baseband/Radio
AR9485
HB125 Reference Design AR9485 Specifications
1x1 802.11n 2.4 GHz WLAN HMC
£ Low RBOM, component count and cost
Frequency Band 2.4 GHz
£ 2 layer, Half-Mini Card design for optimized PCB cost
£ PCI Express Half-Mini Card 1.2 specification compliant

£ Supports single antenna and dual antenna Network Standard 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n
£ Driver support on Windows Win7/Vista/XP and Linux

£ Worldwide regulatory compliant (country list available on request)

Modulation Modes OFDM with BPSK, QPSK, 16 QAM,
£ Single worldwide SKU
64 QAM; DBPSK, DQPSK, CCK

FEC Coding Rate 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6

Hardware Security AES, TKIP, WEP

Quality of Service 802.11e

Media Access Technique CSMA/CA

Communication Interface PCI Express

Peripheral Interface GPIOs, LEDs

Supported Data Rates

IEEE 802.11b 1 to 11 Mbps
IEEE 802.11g 6 to 54 Mbps
IEEE 1-stream 802.11n 6.5 to 150 Mbps

Operating Voltage 1.2V +/-5%, 3.3V +/-10%

Package Dimensions 7 mm x 7 mm

Package 56-pin LPCC

Qualcomm Atheros is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and a leading provider of wireless
and wired technologies for the mobile, networking, computing and consumer electronics markets. We’re focused
on inventing technologies that connect and empower people in ways that are elegant and accessible to all.

Our broad connectivity portfolio allows us to offer our global customer base high-performance, end-to-end solutions,
featuring Wi-Fi®, GPS, Bluetooth®, FM, Ethernet, HomePlug™ Powerline and PON technologies. By leveraging substantial
expertise in RF, signal processing, software and networking we can deliver highly-integrated, low-power, system-level
master QC logo (c:100, m:60, y:0, k:0) solutions that enable developers to create high-performance, differentiated products.

For more information, please visit us online @ qca.qualcomm.com

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property of Qualcomm Incorporated, Qualcomm Atheros, Inc., or their respective owners and used with permission.
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