More on Broadcom AirForce One: I spoke to Broadcom last week in advance of their announcement today that they had put an entire 802.11b radio and interface into a single CMOS method chip. Here are some additional details to complement this morning's coverage.
I spoke with Jeff Abramowitz, the senior director of WLAN marketing at Broadcom. Jeff has a long history in the industry, including at other wireless LAN semiconductor firms.
Abramowitz noted that batteries for cell phones have 1/50th to 1/100th the capacity of a laptop battery, and that, along with other similar form factors, was their starting point.
Among other details, they chose to use a 1.8 volt input on the module, which is common in handhelds, instead of the 3.3V laptop power supply; that actually improves power characteristics.
Because the chip contains all of the necessary components in silicon, including the power amplifier, the module can be tested at the chip level, which improves yield, speeds up production, and reduces cost.
Abramowitz said that the entire portfolio of Broadcom add-ons are available in the chip, including frame bursting, which is their version of an upcoming standard to allow 802.11b and 802.11g to better interoperate.
He agreed that Bluetooth's future is complementary with other technologies, and that Bluetooth will center around the phone because of so much investment and infrastructure.
The company expects to announce manufacturing partners that supply end-user equipment in October.