Inside Story

Figure 3 shows the handset disassembled, but doesn't provide much of an insight into the WIP330's component suppliers. You can see the single non-extandable dipole antenna mounted at the top left of the main board.

Figure 3: Handset internal view
(click image to enlarge)

Figure 4 shows that the radio is actually a removable custom (not mini-PCI) module, that connects to the main board and antenna. The area in Figure 4 marked with the yellow "5" dot looks like it is intended to allow mounting of a second module, perhaps by end-users since the area is accessible by removing the handset's battery. There is no clue, however, as to what the function of that module might be.

Figure 4: Main board with radio module removed
(click image to enlarge)

Figure 5 reveals that the radio is based on Marvell silicon, including an 88W8385 Integrated 802.11g Wireless MAC/BB and 88W8015 802.11b/g transceiver that has "enhanced filtering" for use in cellular handsets. The tranceiver has an on-board power amplifier with maximum transmit power ratings of +22dBm (158mW) for 11b and +16dBm (~40mW) for 11g.

Figure 5: Marvell-based radio module

Looking at the pictures for the keyboard and display side of the board reveals that Linksys tapped Intel and its PXA270-series for the WIP330's main processor (a PXA270C5C312) and flash memory and Hynix for RAM.

Figure 6: Main board with keyboard, display and processor shielding removed
(click image to enlarge)

Tags: Linksys, VoIP Phone, WiFi, WIP330,

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