A radio communication apparatus having a radio modem for processing a signal in a radio frequency band, a signal processor for processing a base band of a transmission or reception signal, and a CPU for processing a protocol. The signal processor includes signal processing blocks implemented by programmable software. Each of the signal processing blocks processes a signal of reception signal data input from the radio modem or from a preceding stage of one of the signal processing blocks or a signal of transmission signal data input from the CPU or from the preceding stage of signal processing block on the basis of a control signal input together with the transmission signal data or the reception signal data. The control signal can include information required by all the signal processing blocks in a common format.