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"The idea behind Radio Free Intel is that all wireless protocols can be executed on a common set of hardware ingredients that are integrated in Intel silicon," says Steve Pawlowski, Intel Fellow and Director of Communications and Interconnect Technology at Intel. "To achieve this vision, the analog radio frequency and the baseband logic sections need to be reconfigurable to adapt to different protocols and different environments."
Using its world-class CMOS process technology and the power of Moore's Law, Intel envisions integrating analog-based radio technologies onto a single, silicon die — in effect digitizing radio. Intel scientists and researchers see silicon radio following the history of Intel® microprocessors, steadily shrinking in cost and size, and increasing in intelligence and processing capability.
 Intel has already succeeded in integrating analog and digital capabilities into a single process when it released the world's first-ever "wireless-Internet-on-a-chip" technology. This technology has gone from the research and advanced development stage to product release with the Intel® PXA800F cellular processor.
Additionally, Intel researchers already have succeeded in using CMOS manufacturing process to make an oscillator and a synthesizer, two important components of radio.
Building on these early successes, research and advanced development efforts continue to devise interoperable platforms with common radio requirements and to reduce platform bill of materials and manufacturing costs. Plans include reducing chipsets and antenna, and creating programmable Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) radio.
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The move to digital logic is expected to revolutionize radio just as it has done with electronic devices. The intelligence that comes with processing capability, for example, could allow products with embedded silicon radios to connect to multiple networks, regardless of their respective protocols or requirements.
