Cavium, Arada Team

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Cavium Networks, a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor processors that enable intelligent networking, communications and security applications, and Arada Systems, a leading developer of next generation Wi-Fi software, today announced the availability of an 802.11n solution featuring Arada's 802.11n software and Cavium's OCTEON CN30XX MIPS64-based Processor Family. Arada's software solution combines with Cavium's OCTEON processors to support Atheros' XSPAN(tm) 802.11n technology in an enterprise-class networking solution. The production-ready reference design, customized to meet the demands of enterprise-class networking devices, delivers performance exceeding 300 Mbps TCP/IP end-user throughput with dual-band radios in the2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. This solution is also ideal for streaming videos through a home network with high-end Triple Play Wireless LAN (WLAN)-enabled Gateways. In the enterprise environment, the high-performance solution provides processing power that enables more than 300 Mbps actual Wi-Fi throughput while supporting other enterprise-class applications.

The 802.11n draft specification offers a significant performance boost over the legacy 802.11g WLAN standard. However, home and enterprise applications have not fully benefited from this performance boost due to limited processing capability and lack of Gigabit connectivity in some processors used in networking applications. With a unique architecture designed for networking and communications applications, Cavium's OCTEON CN30xx processor family provides the capability to support Gigabit data rates while providing Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. When the processing capability of the OCTEON processor is paired with Atheros' AR5008 chipset supported with Arada Systems' software, the resulting system delivers TCP/IP throughput of over 300 Mbps with dual radios. With a single radio operating in the 2.4 GHz frequency band the throughput of 180 Mbps is obtained.

"Arada Systems is very excited to add software enhancements on the Cavium platform that will enable our joint customers to take advantage of the extensive features offered by the 802.11n specification, while utilizing the high processing capability provided by Cavium's single and dual core processors. We are pleased to be working with Cavium Networks to deliver very high performance throughput in 802.11n products," said Praveen Singh, President and CEO of Arada Systems. "In addition, the resulting combined solution will enable customers to support critical functionalities beyond Wi-Fi, by taking advantage of the extra processing cycles."

Cavium Inc. (Nasdaq: CAVM)