The chip’s footprint is less than 80mm squared, or about half the size of existing two-chip WLAN-Bluetooth offerings, Marvell said. As a result, Marvell’s chip would significantly extend the battery life of mobile phones and other handheld devices, according to the company.
What’s more, the chip, called the 88W8688, is manufactured using 90-nanometer traditional methods, said the company.
The new product pits Marvell against Bluetooth chip developer CSR plc, which is working on combined WiFi/Bluetooth and UWB/Bluetooth chips.
Marvell spokesperson Diane Vanasse said Marvell’s new chip addresses a class of products that require the ability to communicate within a wide area network, as well as the short range network, that is, for headphones.
The Santa Clara, California-based company said the 88W8688 was currently being sampled to OEMs.
