HSINCHU, TAIWAN 09 January, 2012 – MediaTek Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, today announced its latest innovation for 802.11ac Wi-Fi AP/routers—the RT6856 Wi-Fi system-on-a-chip (SoC), which is also its first product since its merger with Ralink Technology. Designed specifically to address the needs of high quality home content distribution, synchronization and display, the RT6856 represents the industry’s first solution to enable Gigabit wireless on a dual-band concurrent Wi-Fi AP/router, or a CPU-offloading intelligent NIC (iNIC) solution for connected consumer electronics products. The RT6856 gives added depth and breadth to MediaTek’s wireless connectivity product line, allowing it to better compete for cross-platform deals with networking/consumer electronic chip manufacturers worldwide.

The RT6856 Wi-Fi SoC contains a powerful 700 MHz MIPS® 34KEc™ CPU core and two PCI Express interfaces to enable interoperability with 802.11ac Wi-Fi chips for true Gigabit wireless “dual band concurrent” home networks for high quality data, voice and video applications. It allows users to simultaneously create two wireless networks both running at full bandwidth speeds, offering a significant increase in total network capacity. The RT6856 also features a rich array of connectivity options including an RGMII interface that can be used with a Gigabit Ethernet switch, cable, or xDSL modem; two USB 2.0 interfaces for 3G/WiMAX/LTE connectivities, printing, consumer electronics, or wireless storage applications; and SPI, I2C, I2S, and PCM interfaces for audio and VoIP applications. Plus, the new SoC also includes the company’s field proven hardware support for Network Address Translation (NAT) and other frame aggregation techniques that make its LAN to WAN routing performance five times faster than conventional software-based products. Moreover, the RT6856 comes with a CPU-offloading intelligent NIC (iNIC) solution that allows manufacturers to easily incorporate wireless connectivity into products that previously lacked Wi-Fi capability, without the necessity of host processor upgrades.

The RT6856 system-on-a-chip solution works perfectly with all MediaTek PCIe Wi-Fi chips, including the upcoming 802.11ac line. Hardware and software design kits and customer samples for both AP/routers and intelligent NIC solutions are now available. Key product features include:

Built-in best-in-class hardware network address translation (NAT) acceleration engine and RGMII interface for Gigabit Ethernet connection enables the RT6856’s WAN to LAN throughput to run up to five times faster than conventional software-based NAT routers.
Embedded IPSec security engine brings low cost, yet high performance VPN function to residential gateway products; also makes the RT6856 ideal for SMB-class networking applications.

“Since the merger with Ralink, MediaTek has been proactively integrating technical advantages from both parties’ respective fields such as wireless communications, digital consumer and networking marketplaces. This not only brings synergy to our solutions for connected devices throughout digital homes, but also enables MediaTek to expand its presence in networking industries and enrich its product portfolio.” said Mr. C.J. Hsieh, President of MediaTek. “The proliferation of high quality video, digital content, and Blu-Ray DVDs in homes is driving demand for greater Wi-Fi performance and coverage beyond existing single RF 802.11n devices. This will lead to the rapid adoption of dual-band concurrent Wi-Fi as the next key technology in both consumer and enterprise applications.” Mr. Hsieh also went on to say, “MediaTek is strongly positioned to deliver new products that offer high value and are capable of meeting the evolving needs of our customers in the home networking market. With the RT6856, we not only offer our OEM customers a new paradigm for affordable yet high performance dual-band concurrent Wi-Fi technology, but also provide them with a scalable platform that can be leveraged to develop new revenue streams in the home networking arena.”

About MediaTek

Since 1997, MediaTek has been a pioneering fabless semiconductor company and a market leader in cutting-edge systems-on-chip (SoC) for mobile devices, wireless networking, HDTV, DVD and Blu-ray. Our tightly-integrated, innovative chip designs help manufacturers optimize supply chains, reduce the development time of new products, and extend a competitive edge in crowded markets. Through MediaTek Labs, the company is also building a developer hub that will support device creation, application development, and services for the Internet of Things era. By building technologies that help connect individuals to the world around them, MediaTek is enabling people to expand their horizons and more easily achieve their goals. We believe anyone can achieve something amazing. And we believe they can do it every single day. We call this idea Everyday Genius and it drives everything we do. Visit mediatek.com for more information.