Intel rolls out multiband wireless on a single chip

Very large scale integration is coming to wireless devices. Recently, we reported that small, efficient multiband antennas are on the way. On the heels of that news, Intel has release an single ship transciver that handles Wimax and WiFi:

What Intel says it has accomplished is the building of a die that supports WiMax and Wi-Fi a/g/n. In integrating a transceiver capable of handling multiple frequencies on a single chip, Intel has eliminated the use of a “front-end module,” technology that performs the same function today on a separate die, Hossein Alavi, director of communications circuits at Intel labs, told InformationWeek. Eliminating the separate module would ultimately enable the building of a smaller processor with lower power consumption, two important attributes for portable Internet devices.

In addition, Intel researchers have integrated a power amplifier that’s almost entirely digital for improving the quality and strength of the signal transmitted and received. A digital amplifier can scale with the processor, so as the latter becomes more powerful, so can the amplifier. (from Yahoo)

What does this mean? From the engineering standpoint, wireless access is now smaller, consumes less power and is cheaper to add to a product. I’m not predicting a Wimax enabled toaster, but I think we’ll see wireless capability in devices we that never imagined would have it this year.