Agere Systems has unwrapped a small-form-factor 802.11g Wi-Fi module specifically designed for handheld consumer applications. This embedded system-in-package (SiP) delivers 54 Megabit-per-second (Mbps) speeds while balancing exceptional range and power savings for such wireless products as personal digital assistants (PDAs), media players, smart phones, handheld video games, digital cameras and camcorders.

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Powered by Agere's complete WaveLAN chipset and software drivers, this module is being developed by Universal Scientific Industrial Co. Ltd. (USI) to provide connectivity performance in small-form-factor Wi-Fi devices. Measuring only 20 mm x 29 mm, the SiP module is a standard product tailored to the size, power, operating distance and performance needs of handheld devices for wireless connectivity in homes, businesses and public hotspots. This module will be demonstrated at next month’s Computex 2004 trade show in Taipei, Taiwan.

Market research firm Gartner Dataquest estimates that by 2006, 60 percent of PDAs and five percent of cellular handsets being shipped will include built-in wireless LAN connections. "The success of Wi-Fi in the PC market has helped drive demand for connectivity in handheld devices, giving consumers access to their digital content using PDAs and media players and creating innovative new applications for mobile phones and VoIP handsets," said Stan Swearingen, vice president of Agere's computing connectivity division. "This new Wi-Fi module delivers the true mobility elements consumer electronics developers care about most - power savings, small size, reliability and performance."

This mini-module is designed to offer an extended range of up to 100 meters at 6 Mbps. Using Agere's WaveLAN chipset, which includes an RF transceiver, media access controller (MAC), baseband processor and power amplifier, the SiP module delivers output power of 14 dBm at 54 Mbps operation and 16 dBm at 12 Mbps speed.

Since battery drain is a critical issue in handheld devices, this module offers a new deep sleep-connected mode that enables a device to idle at low operating power while retaining an active association to its access point. This standby power mode--the state most often in use by wireless devices-operates at 1.5 milliamps for the entire module, representing the industry benchmark achieved for low power consumption in 802.11b and g solutions.

The embedded wireless module offers a viable alternative to compact flash cards through its small-form factor, standard 16-bit interface as well as a direct solderless board-to-board connector, saving mobile product makers manufacturing time-to-market and cost on new designs. The module is intended to support multiple operating system platforms, including WinCE, Pocket PC 2002, 2003 and others.

In addition, the module is compliant with the draft IEEE 802.11e specification to meet the quality-of-service requirements for applications including voice-over-wireless LAN and streaming media. The solution will also support the new 802.11i security standard, which is expected to be finalized in June. Currently sampling, it is slated to go into volume production in third quarter.