Qualcomm Atheros, a subsidiary of Qualcomm, today unveiled new Wi-Fi products that promise to boost performance for a range of consumer electronics. The company added the QCA9377 chip to its 802.11ac 2.0 ecosystem, which Qualcomm says brings the benefits of multi-user multi-input/multi-output (MU-MIMO) to mobile devices. The benefits of MU-MIMO include better support for multiple devices on the same hotspot, as well as better use of capacity. MU-MIMO is already being deployed inside consumer-grade Wi-Fi hotspots. The QCA9377 is the mobile device complement and can improve speeds by up to three times. The QCA9377 is a combo chip that also includes Bluetooth 4.1. Qualcomm said a company called AVM is among the first to deploy its MU-MIMO technology, but it expects mobile devices makers to follow in the months ahead once it ramps up production of the QCA9377.


More...