Sandbridge CEO Guenter Weinberger told Computer Business Review that users will be sampling the SB3000 series DSP-based handset platform this summer, and said he expects the first revenue from the sale of handsets incorporating the technology early next year.

Rather than using custom hardware blocks for every function in the communication system, software written in C enables it to run most advanced wireless protocols including 3G. A successful take-up of the company’s platform would overcome the problems faces by traveling mobile users in a world divided by two main wireless standards. Sandbridge says its chips can handle W-CDMA, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, Bluetooth. WiFi, WiMax, 802.20, and GPS.

Weinberger would not be drawn on what companies would be sampling the platform. But some idea of the likely interest is that on the eve of its product launch, Sandbridge has geared itself for a huge expansion of its operation by closing a $15.4m series B funding round that was led by Samsung ventures, the venture capital arm of the third largest mobile phone company.

The Sandbridge platform poses an immediate threat to big mobile chip developers such as Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, which are both riding high on booming sales of wireless chipsets based on traditional technology. Up to 1 billion mobile phones are expected to be sold this year making it huge and lucrative market for chipmakers. But by ending the division between WCDMA and CDMA, Sandbridge also changes the landscape for wireless carriers. Vodafone Group Plc, for example, is under enormous shareholder pressure to sell its stake in Verizon because the US operator’s use of CDMA technology means there is no compatibility with Vodafone’s own operations.

Sandbridge’s platform offers a further attraction to operators in that they can future-proof a phone and download software when necessary to conform to new standards.

White Plains, New York-based Sandbridge said SB3000-based products can be complemented by application features such as MPEG capture and playback for video or videoconferencing, JPEG capture and playback for camera and display functions, and MP3 capture and playback for music or ringtone functions.

Sandbridge said the technology paves the way for a new class of multi-mode, multimedia convergent devices that merge the performance of PCs with the convenience of mobile handhelds.