List of Wi-Fi Chipset Vendors

Companies that offer Wi-Fi chipsets (i.e. actual silicon): notable dates, name of first Wi-Fi chipset, merger and acquisitions, current status.

Inactive

 * 3DSP - Founded in 1997; first Wi-Fi 802.11bg IP core in 2002 ; collaborated with Syntek since 1999; no activity after 2009
 * ALi / Acer Labs / Acer Laboratories Incorporated / ALinx (ALi WLAN Chip Business spinoff in 2002): (2000-2003) First chip M4301A (802.11b)
 * Agere Systems - spin off from Lucent in 2002; continued development on WaveLAN chipsets w/ Infineon assistance; quit Wi-Fi chipset business in late 2004
 * Lucent (1996-2002) WaveLAN/IEEE chipsets (HERMES I based)


 * AT&T
 * NCR / COMTEN - First WaveLAN product in 1988;
 * AMD - First Wi-Fi chipset 1997 (Am79C930 pre-802.11 DSSS); released an unpopular Alchemy-based 802.11b chipset (Am1770/1/2 802.11b); exited the Wi-Fi chipset business in ~2004
 * Beam Networks - Founded in 2006; worked on 802.11ad 60GHz chipset; activity ceased in 2012
 * ComSilica - worked on 802.11a chip. Failed.
 * Cirrus Logic - Acquired ShareWave in 2001, Bodega chipset (Whitecap2 + 802.11b), near zero adoption
 * ShareWave Founded in 1996; First chip in 1998 (SWS260A MAC, 4Mbps DSSS non-802.11); acquired by Cirrus in 2001
 * Cisco Started Wi-Fi chipset activity by acquiring Aironet in 1999 (802.11b chipset); stopped offering/using own Wi-Fi silicon ~2001; formally got out the Wi-Fi chip business in January 2004 . The product name Aironet remained, but using 3rd-party chipsets.
 * Aironet Communications - Founded in 1986; pre-802.11 wireless standard Aironet ARLAN; acquired by Cisco in 1999. 802.11b Linux: airo
 * Radiata - (802.11a chipset) acquired by Cisco in 2000
 * Conexant (2003-...)
 * GlobespanVirata (2002-2003) short lived, merged shortly thereafter with Conexant
 * Intersil (2000-2002) PRISM 2/2.5/3, PRISM GT chipsets
 * No Wires Needed B.V. - acquired by Intersil in 2000
 * Harris Corporation (1999-2000) PRISM chipset developed
 * CHOICE Microsystems (1998), acquired by Harris in 1999
 * Digital Ocean (1992) developed the MAC used with just about all early 802.11b chipsets, acquired by CHOICE Microsystems in 1998
 * EdgeWater - multichannel 802.11 chipset  still active?
 * Engim - EN-3000 802.11g chipset
 * IceFyre - 802.11abg chipset
 * Integrated System Solution Corp. (ISSC) (...) presumably acquired Winbond's WLAN assets, seems to be defunct
 * Winbond (...) released a number of ultimately unpopular chipsets (W89C3x)
 * Mobilian - founded in 1999; 802.11b chipset
 * National Semiconductor - worked on wireless LAN since at least 1994 (AirShare 900MHz etc); worked on Wi-Fi chip (not released); acquired innoCOMM (802.11a chipset) in 2001 ; acquired Wireless Solutions Sweden a subsidiary of Allgon in 2001 (Wi-Fi/wireless products). No Wi-Fi chips were ever released...
 * innoCOMM innocomm.com (archive.org) - Founded in 1998 as Analog Circuit Technologies; first Wi-Fi chipset (ICM3000 802.11a ) in 2000; acquired by National Semi in 2001
 * OKI - 2000 - had a 802.11 legacy (FHSS) MAC/BB chip M7730B, used in SOHOware_CableFREE_NetBlaster_(NCF600) and InstantWave PC Card
 * Proxim - first RangeLAN product in 1991, had 802.11 FHSS / HomeRF / HomeRF 2.0 products
 * Renesas - Acquired KeyStream in 2009 (802.11abg chipsets)
 * KeyStream - Founded in 2000; first chipset in 2003 (802.11b); Acquired by Renesas in 2009
 * RDC - first WiSoC in 2004 (R2600 b/g); also responsible for AMRISC WiSoCs designed/manufactured for AMIT
 * Rivermark Technology - spin off from RFMD in 2005 for the purpose of licensing the Wi-Fi IP
 * RF Micro Devices (RFMD)- Started Wi-Fi chipset activity by acquiring Resonext in 2002; first Wi-Fi chipset in 2003 (RFCS5420 802.11abg); cease Wi-Fi activity in 2005
 * Resonext Systems - Founded in 1999 as NeoSilicon; first chipset in 2001 (RN5200 802.11a 5GHz); acquired by RFMD in 2002
 * Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) (-2005) 16x series chipsets, low adoption for most (excepting the 163U)
 * Symbol Technologies - Offered WiFi products since 1990 (SpectrumOne 900MHz, Spectrum24), later has some 802.11b baseband chips; quit the Wi-Fi chipset business in 2001
 * Syntek - Founded in 1983; First and only Wi-Fi chipset (STK9100 802.11bg) in 2008 (with 3DSP ); company appears defunct.
 * Telewise Communications - 2000-2003 worked on 802.11abg chips. failed.
 * VIA (~2004-2006)
 * WavePlus - Acquired Topdek semiconductor (802.11b chipset) in 2003, quit the Wi-Fi business in 2005
 * Topdek Semiconductor - Founded in 2002, first chip in 2002 (TDS6101 802.11b), acquired in 2003 by WavePlus

TODO

 * WiFi IP: Silvus Communication Systems 2004 silvuscom.com / Silvus Technologies silvustechnologies.com
 * Comsis 802.11n core
 * nordic semi wlan core
 * chipidea microelectronics wlan core
 * wlan core: t-2-m.com
 * wlan core: Posedge
 * wlan core: www.asix.com.tw
 * wlan core: www.ittiam.com
 * wlan core? http://uurmi.com/property/11ac.html
 * Global Unichip: 802.11ad AFE (just AFE, not full wlan core)
 * Imec: 802.11ad RFIC transceiver (just RFIC, not MAC/Baseband)
 * Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc.: high-density focused fabless semiconductor company; industry's first wide-band WiFi silicon solution capable of delivering multiple, concurrent channels of transmit and receive from a single, WiFi standards complaint radio (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz)