MKG-16487 Ver. 5.0

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Qualcomm Atheros, Inc.

MAY CONTAIN U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL EXPORT CONTROLLED INFORMATION

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Features Summary

2.1 Overview

The AR4100 is an IEEE 802.11 (b, g, n) System in Package (SiP) based on cutting edge

technology. The AR4100 includes full digital MAC and baseband engines handling all 802.11b

(CCK) and 802.11g/n (OFDM). An embedded low-power CPU core minimizes host loading to

provide an easy to implement solution.

The AR4100 is architected for ultra-low power consumption, with near-zero power consumption

in power down modes with fast wakeup.

2.2 Radio Front End

The AR4100 features a high-power high-efficiency on-chip power amplifier that features:



Qualcomm Atheros proprietary EPA™ linearization technology for WiFi.



Highly integrated LNAs.

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Integrated Balun for Tx and Rx paths



Integrated receive and transmit RF matching and switching to enable direct antenna

connection with high performance, low power consumption, and near-zero RBOM for lowest

solution cost.

2.3 Power Management

The AR4100 requires both 3.3 V and 1.8 V supplies from the system. The AR4100 3.3 V inputs

support operating voltage from 4.2 V down to 3.1 V and is tolerant of momentary overvoltage up

to 5.5 V. An on-chip switching regulator supports PWM mode and burst mode to optimize power

efficiency under both peak operation and low load conditions.

The AR4100 power management engine uses advanced power save techniques such as: gating

clocks to idle or inactive blocks, voltage scaling to specific blocks in certain states, fast start and

settling circuits to reduce Tx and active duty cycles, CPU frequency scaling, and other techniques

to optimize power consumption across all operation states.

For applications with a small Tx duty cycle, the AR4100 has the ability to quickly wake up and

burst data out at a high rate and go back into standby mode, thus taking advantage of the 5

μA of

power consumption in standby mode.

Additionally, Qualcomm Atheros can provide system level design recommendations to take

AR4100 standby current to essentially zero with the use of a high impedance FET.