Atheros
Encyclopedia
Qualcomm Atheros is a developer of semiconductor
s for network
communications, particularly wireless chipsets. Founded under the name Atheros in 1998 by experts in signal processing
from Stanford University
, the University of California, Berkeley
and the private industry, it became a public company in 2004. The current President and CEO of the company is Craig H. Barratt.
On the 5th January 2011, it was announced that Qualcomm
has agreed a takeover of the company for an enterprise valuation of US$3.5 billion. The acquisition was completed on May 24, 2011 and Atheros became a subsidiary of Qualcomm operating under the name Qualcomm Atheros.
Atheros chipsets for the IEEE 802.11
standard of wireless networking are used by over 30 different wireless device manufacturers, including Netgear
, D-Link
and TRENDnet.
, Atheros had been known for not releasing the appropriate documentation that would allow free software
developers to write open-source drivers to support Atheros wireless devices without resorting to reverse-engineering. As a result, OSS support for Atheros hardware was rather limited. However, there were some completely free open-source drivers written via reverse-engineering techniques. For example, Reyk Floeter of the OpenBSD
project reversed-engineered the HAL-module of the ath driver found on FreeBSD and provided a completely free driver for Atheros devices. Additionally, Nick Kossifidis of the MadWiFi project based on Floeter's work started madwifi-old-openhal branch in February 2006 in order to create a free driver for Linux. Kossifidis performed some further reverse engineering to add support for most ar5k chips and made various code improvements. His code made it to ath5k , a driver for Atheros chips that is now included in the Linux kernel.
Atheros has often been featured in OpenBSD's theme songs that relate to the ongoing efforts of freeing non-free devices.
In July 2008 Atheros decided to change policy and hired two key Linux wireless developers Luis Rodriguez
and Jouni Malinen and released an open-source Linux driver for their 802.11n devices.. Atheros also released some source from their binary HAL under ISC license to help the community add support for their abg chips. Atheros has been actively contributing towards the ath9k driver in Linux, with support for all current 802.11n chipsets.. Atheros has also been providing documentation and assistance to the FreeBSD community to enable updated support for 802.11n chipsets in FreeBSD-9.0 and FreeBSD-HEAD..
In early 2007, Atheros acquired Attansic Technology, a Fast and Gigabit Ethernet chip maker headquartered in Taiwan, adding wireline communications to its product portfolio and expanding its Asia design team.
In late 2007, Atheros acquired u-Nav Microelectronics, a GPS
chipmaker headquartered in Irvine, CA.
In late 2009, Atheros acquired Intellon Corporation, a public company. With this acquisition, Atheros enhanced and expanded its networking technology portfolio to include Intellon’s industry-leading power line communication
(PLC) solutions for home networking, networked entertainment, broadband-over-powerline (BPL) access, Ethernet-over-Coax (EoC), and smart grid management applications.
In August 2010, Atheros acquired Chinese headquartered Opulan Technology Corp. This acquisition added EPON broadband access technology to Atheros' increasingly diversified portfolio of communications IC technologies and also significantly bolstered Atheros' already strong engineering presence in Shanghai, China.
In January 2011, Qualcomm
entered into a Material Definitive Agreement to acquire Atheros at $45 per share in an all in cash merger agreement. This agreement was subject to shareholder approval and other customary regulatory approvals.
In May 2011, Qualcomm
completed its acquisition of Atheros Communications for a total of US$3.1 billion. Atheros is now a subsidiary of Qualcomm
under the name Qualcomm Atheros.
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
s for network
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
communications, particularly wireless chipsets. Founded under the name Atheros in 1998 by experts in signal processing
Signal processing
Signal processing is an area of systems engineering, electrical engineering and applied mathematics that deals with operations on or analysis of signals, in either discrete or continuous time...
from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and the private industry, it became a public company in 2004. The current President and CEO of the company is Craig H. Barratt.
On the 5th January 2011, it was announced that Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
has agreed a takeover of the company for an enterprise valuation of US$3.5 billion. The acquisition was completed on May 24, 2011 and Atheros became a subsidiary of Qualcomm operating under the name Qualcomm Atheros.
Atheros chipsets for the IEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for implementing wireless local area network computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands. They are created and maintained by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee . The base version of the standard IEEE 802.11-2007 has had subsequent...
standard of wireless networking are used by over 30 different wireless device manufacturers, including Netgear
Netgear
Netgear is a U.S. manufacturer of computer networking equipment and other computer hardware....
, D-Link
D-Link
D-Link Corporation was founded in June 1986 in Taipei as Datex Systems Inc. It began as a network adapter vendor and has gone on to become a designer, developer, and manufacturer of networking solutions for both the consumer and business markets.In 2007, it was the leading networking company in...
and TRENDnet.
History
In the free software communityFree software community
The free-software community is an informal term that refers to the users and developers of free software as well as supporters of the free-software movement. The movement is sometimes referred to as the open-source software community or a subset thereof...
, Atheros had been known for not releasing the appropriate documentation that would allow free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
developers to write open-source drivers to support Atheros wireless devices without resorting to reverse-engineering. As a result, OSS support for Atheros hardware was rather limited. However, there were some completely free open-source drivers written via reverse-engineering techniques. For example, Reyk Floeter of the OpenBSD
OpenBSD
OpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
project reversed-engineered the HAL-module of the ath driver found on FreeBSD and provided a completely free driver for Atheros devices. Additionally, Nick Kossifidis of the MadWiFi project based on Floeter's work started madwifi-old-openhal branch in February 2006 in order to create a free driver for Linux. Kossifidis performed some further reverse engineering to add support for most ar5k chips and made various code improvements. His code made it to ath5k , a driver for Atheros chips that is now included in the Linux kernel.
Atheros has often been featured in OpenBSD's theme songs that relate to the ongoing efforts of freeing non-free devices.
In July 2008 Atheros decided to change policy and hired two key Linux wireless developers Luis Rodriguez
Luis Rodriguez
Luis Rodriguez may refer to:*Luis Rodríguez , baseball player from Venezuela*Luis Rodríguez , Puerto Rican volleyball player*Luis J. Rodriguez , U.S...
and Jouni Malinen and released an open-source Linux driver for their 802.11n devices.. Atheros also released some source from their binary HAL under ISC license to help the community add support for their abg chips. Atheros has been actively contributing towards the ath9k driver in Linux, with support for all current 802.11n chipsets.. Atheros has also been providing documentation and assistance to the FreeBSD community to enable updated support for 802.11n chipsets in FreeBSD-9.0 and FreeBSD-HEAD..
Acquisitions
In 2006, Atheros acquired ZyDAS Technology, a USB Wireless LAN company headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan. This core team is now the heart of Atheros' Taiwan Development Center.In early 2007, Atheros acquired Attansic Technology, a Fast and Gigabit Ethernet chip maker headquartered in Taiwan, adding wireline communications to its product portfolio and expanding its Asia design team.
In late 2007, Atheros acquired u-Nav Microelectronics, a GPS
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
chipmaker headquartered in Irvine, CA.
In late 2009, Atheros acquired Intellon Corporation, a public company. With this acquisition, Atheros enhanced and expanded its networking technology portfolio to include Intellon’s industry-leading power line communication
Power line communication
Power line communication or power line carrier , also known as power line digital subscriber line , mains communication, power line telecom , power line networking , or broadband over power lines are systems for carrying data on a conductor also used for electric power transmission.A wide range...
(PLC) solutions for home networking, networked entertainment, broadband-over-powerline (BPL) access, Ethernet-over-Coax (EoC), and smart grid management applications.
In August 2010, Atheros acquired Chinese headquartered Opulan Technology Corp. This acquisition added EPON broadband access technology to Atheros' increasingly diversified portfolio of communications IC technologies and also significantly bolstered Atheros' already strong engineering presence in Shanghai, China.
In January 2011, Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
entered into a Material Definitive Agreement to acquire Atheros at $45 per share in an all in cash merger agreement. This agreement was subject to shareholder approval and other customary regulatory approvals.
In May 2011, Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
completed its acquisition of Atheros Communications for a total of US$3.1 billion. Atheros is now a subsidiary of Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
under the name Qualcomm Atheros.