Combining Wi-Fi and handheld devices seems like a can’t-miss proposition. Until now, visions of high-speed access on the go have been obscured by the sobering reality of heavy power consumption. The introduction of the SyChip Secure Digital WLAN Card may change that.

Users of handheld devices, such as PDAs, can imagine a time when speedy wireless connections will enable all sorts of new mobile entertainment and productivity applications. Well, the time has come. It came last year, actually. And the year before. But today’s mobile connectivity options — such as plugging 802.11 cards into a PDA or buying an integrated Wi-Fi model — can be mind-numbingly ineffective for one simple reason: power.

Watching Life Drain

It does not seem that 802.11 connectivity can be hyped any more than it currently is. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi seems to be sapping the life from most of the small consumer and business devices that it could benefit the most. When your PDA is switched on and connected to an 802.11 network, you can almost watch the battery life drain at double or triple the rate of loss for non-wireless endeavors.

With a Bell Labs pedigree, Plano, Texas-based SyChip is a startup with the right mix of experience in RFIC (radio frequency integrated circuit) and CSM (chip scale module) design to combat this issue. Founded in January 2000 as Lucent’s sixteenth venture company, SyChip’s core competency is in RF design for portable devices. This degree of focus has allowed the company to rise to the top of an emerging market for SD (secure digital) cards that are wirelessly enabled.

Validation from SanDisk

During a press conference at the recent International Consumer Electrics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, SanDisk announced that it will use SyChip’s WLAN6060SDNIC design in its new SanDisk Connect product line. The tiny, low power-consumption cards are removable and will be shipped in both non-memory and 256 MB flash memory versions.

“The Wi-Fi revolution is becoming a handheld experience,” Navi Miglani, product marketing manager at SyChip, told NewsFactor, “and the SyChip WLAN6060SDIO card enables PDA users to take advantage of longer battery life and a smaller form factor.” He noted that his company has received tremendous channel support from partners, including SanDisk and Socket, as well as from manufacturers and integrators.

PDAs and More

SyChip’s SDIO (secure digital input/output) products will enable a new generation of PDAs to participate in the Wi-Fi revolution without being prematurely robbed of their battery lives. SDIO standardized technology is likely to gain adoption by quite a few manufacturers of mobile phones, digital cameras, Point of Sale (POS) terminals and other Internet appliances in years to come.

In addition to providing a plum endorsement of SyChip’s technology, SanDisk, the world’s largest supplier of flash data storage products, will leverage its distribution channels to see that SyChip products reach store shelves later this year.

“One of the biggest problems with wireless and small form-factor battery-powered devices is battery life, both in standby and in use,” Aberdeen Group research director Russ Craig told NewsFactor. “SyChip is the only company that I am aware of that has systematically modified the 802.11b chipset to significantly reduce power consumption via software control of the MAC (media access control) layer…. This enables significantly longer battery life and is a key factor in making a wireless SD card for a PDA a useful accessory rather than just a toy.”