PALO ALTO, CA -- Agilent Technologies will buy closely-held Wavics, a Korea-based designer and manufacturer of power amplifier modules for mobile handsets, for an undisclosed amount, the companies said today.

Wavics holds patents on power amplifier technology said to reduces battery power consumption. Agilent plans to combine the Wavics technology with its miniature FBAR (film bulk acoustic resonator) filters to create higher-performance CDMA and W-CDMA front-end modules. This will offer handset manufacturers a significant reduction in PCB space.

In a press release, Bryan Ingram, vice president and general manager of the Wireless Semiconductor Division in Agilent's Semiconductor Products Group. "Our mutual customers will benefit by being able to design smaller, thinner clamshell handsets with more features and talk time than previously available."

Wavics was founded in 2000 and is privately held. It employs approximately 55 people,