Patent ID: 7305259

Claim:
A radio frequency (RF) transceiver comprising: a radio frequency (RF) modem section comprising: receive path circuitry capable of receiving and down-converting an incoming RF signal to thereby produce an incoming baseband signal; and transmit path circuitry capable of receiving and up-converting an outgoing baseband signal to thereby produce an outgoing RF signal; a baseband section comprising baseband circuitry capable of receiving and processing said incoming baseband signal and capable of generating said outgoing baseband signal; and a power-saving apparatus capable of determining that said baseband section is idle and, in response to said determination, placing the RF transceiver in a first of a plurality of low-power modes by reducing a power supply voltage providing power to said baseband section; wherein the power-saving apparatus comprises a timer, and wherein only the timer is capable of receiving power when the RF transceiver is in another of the low-power modes.