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Sequoia Communications is testing a new wireless chip that it claims will help 3G devices communicate more efficiently while extending their battery life as much as 20 percent.

The SEQ-5400 is a single-chip radio transceiver that can handle five wireless standards: WCDMA (Wide-Band CDMA); HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access); EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), the San Diego-based company said on Monday. A radio transceiver is a two-way radio that combines a radio transmitter and a receiver to exchange information.

Previously, handset manufacturers needed to install four or five separate transceivers in handsets and other 3G devices to achieve the same multi-mode claims. That's because wireless standards have traditionally had difficulty sharing information.

Single-chip cell phones, in theory, would also reduce handset makers' costs, which translates to lower-cost phones. That could be a boon to handset manufacturers in markets where sales of 3G cell phones have not achieved mainstream status due to price.

The SEQ-5400 single-chip transceiver should extend battery life in 3G devices by as much as 20 percent next year, Sequoia said. In future generations of the product, the goal is a savings of up to 50 percent.
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