The Linley Group

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—July 20, 2004—The Linley Group today announced its picks for best wireless LAN chip sets. The choices were based on the deep technical analysis and thorough product comparisons found in "A Guide to Wireless LAN Chip Sets," a new report by noted analysts Bob Wheeler and Linley Gwennap.

The pick for best 802.11g chip set goes to Marvell's latest Libertas chip set, which offers excellent integration, range, and battery life. Because Marvell's highly integrated radio chip eliminates many external components—including a power amplifier—the two-chip set compares well with single-chip designs.

Atheros has the best dual-band design in its AR5004X chip set, which offers worldwide frequency coverage, leading integration, competitive battery life, and the fastest turbo mode.

"Our report covers more than 40 companies that currently offer or are developing some type of 802.11 chip set. In spite of intense competition, our conclusion was that these two stood out in their respective categories," says coauthor and senior analyst, Bob Wheeler. "Both Atheros and Marvell offer all-CMOS chip sets with highly integrated dual-conversion radios, balancing cost with performance."

"The numbers show that this is definitely a hot market. In 2003, more than 50 million 802.11 chip sets shipped, and we expect shipments to exceed 100 million units by 2005," says Linley Gwennap, coauthor and principal analyst at The Linley Group. "One trend we note is a distinct shift toward specialized chips for access points, routers, and handheld applications."

In-depth technical information on WLAN chip sets can be found in the latest edition of "A Guide to Wireless LAN Chip Sets." The report delivers detailed coverage of 802.11 chip set products, deep technical analysis and insight into product strengths and weaknesses, vendor roadmaps, and conclusions about likely winners. Vendor coverage includes Marvell, Atheros, Broadcom, Intel, Agere, Conexant, Philips, TI, and many more."

The report provides with key details presented in a consistent, easy-to-compare fashion. The authors pay particular attention to product features, performance, architecture, system design, and vendor roadmaps. The Linley Group’s expert analysis and conclusions help you identify critical differences in these products.
Which vendors are best positioned for success and which will fail? Only The Linley Group provides the deep technology analysis you need to understand this market. If you want to make informed business decisions in this market, "A Guide to Wireless LAN Chip Sets" provides the crucial information you need.

Unlike typical market research, this report provides technology analysis rather than quantitative market data. Which solutions will win designs and why? How will these vendors be positioned as the search engine market continues to evolve? Only The Linley Group’s unique technology analysis can provide this forward-looking view.

The Linley Group is the leading provider of independent technology analysis for the networking-silicon industry, covering emerging areas such as 802.11 chip sets, search engines, networking DRAM, network processors, communications processors, Gigabit Ethernet, switch fabrics, security processors, control-plane processors, high-speed interconnects, and storage networking processors. The company provides in-depth technology reports and interactive seminars as well as strategic consulting services tailored to the individual client. To get free access to The Linley Group's analysis of recent news and events in this market segment, subscribe to The Linley Wire, our e-mail newsletter.