Though still just a research project, the single-chip package promises to replace multiple components currently used to connect mobile devices to specific wireless networks. It may mean future devices can connect to whatever wireless networks are available.

This type of agile chip is the holy grail for Intel, said Sam Lucero, an analyst at research shop IDC.

A single-chip package means a smaller silicon footprint, which translates to being able to build smaller mobile devices that consumer less power, said Manny Vara, technology strategist at Intel’s R&D lab.

It also means the chip could be used in mobile devices of the future other than just laptops, such as mobile phones and PDAs.

And since the so-called radio chip is the first that can be manufactured using Intel’s existing 90-nanometer CMOS technology, it promises to be cheap. Most radio chips today are built using other materials, mostly silicon germanium and require different manufacturing processes.

If you build anything in CMOS, that means that down the road we can also integrate those capabilities into other future chips, Vara added.

If Intel can shrink the chip at some future point, it may be enable any device with an Intel chip to have WiFi capabilities.

Exciting stuff. But Lucero said this is more of an evolutionary rather than revolutionary announcement. It is more of a proof of concept rather than a device that will see the light of day, he said. That’s because the chip integrates only analogue and not digital circuitry and WiFi chip would require both types to make it usable by a digital device.

He said Intel likely views this as a necessary step to get down the road to more advanced WiFi semiconductors in the future.

Intel is building 802.11n capability into the chip, which is the next-generation WiFi standard that promises wireless Internet connectivity up to 1,500 feet. The upcoming 802.11n WiFi also would enable data rates of more than 100Mbps, compared to 54Mbps with existing 802.11g WiFi.

Vara said the chip would not be available until at least the next-generation WiFi standard is ratified by the IEEE, which is expected by the end of next year. Initially, it likely would be part of an Intel Centrino bundle, he said.

Intel researchers presented a technical paper on the chip at the prestigious Symposium on VLSI Technology in Kyoto, Japan.