Datasheet for Qualcomm Atheros AR9380

Single-chip, 2.4/5 GHz, 3-stream 802.11a/b/g/n solution with SST3 Technology

Product Overview
AR9380 is the single-chip, dual-band (2.4/5 GHz), 3-stream 11n solution with PCIe interface. It packs the breakthrough Signal Sustain Technology 3 (SST3) technology that enhances the rate-over-range (RoR) performance. SST3 is a set of advanced technologies and features enabled by 802.11n including LDPC, TxBF and MLD. The end result is an impressive increase in rate-over-range of ~+100% at short range, ~+50% at mid range and ~+25% at long range.
To reduce the manufacturing cost, AR9380 has successfully integrated external components such as the 2.4/5 GHz LNA and PA, switching regulators and EEPROMs. It has dramatically reduced the RBOM and has made the board manufacturing easy and simple.
Despite its mighty performance and high degree of integration, AR9380 consumes even less power in every operation mode – active TX, active RX, idle associated and sleep. It keeps the notebook and other computing platforms running much longer on a single battery-charge, while providing TCP throughput of more than 300 Mbps when used in 3x3 mode.
AR9380 is also optimized for P2P applications compliant with Wi-Fi Direct. With its Fast Channel Switch (FCS) feature, the channel switching time PCI-Express GPIOs Serial between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz is reduced from 10 ms to as little as 1 ms.