Altair's Success in LTE Market with Cadence's Analog IP Solutions
Technology Category
- Networks & Connectivity - Cellular
- Networks & Connectivity - Gateways
Applicable Industries
- Electrical Grids
- Telecommunications
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
Use Cases
- Time Sensitive Networking
- Vehicle Telematics
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Altair is a fabless chip company that specializes in developing and selling high-performance and low-power 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) semiconductor solutions. The company's main market is consumer-centric, with millions of its chips going into devices including tablets, netbooks, chromebooks, mobile hotspots, cameras, routers, and gateways. Altair is also expanding into the growing Internet of Things (IoT) market and has recently announced a portfolio of LTE chipsets that are making a significant impact in the marketplace with their power, size, and cost. The company is leading the repositioning of LTE from a high-throughput, expensive technology to one that could fit into demanding IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) applications such as smart meters, vehicle telematics, and wearable devices.
The Challenge
Altair, a fabless chip company specializing in high-performance, low-power 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) semiconductor solutions, faced several challenges in its quest to capture market share in the rapidly growing LTE market. The advanced LTE technologies required high levels of signal processing and careful design to minimize power consumption and maximize performance. The company also had to deal with high costs related to intellectual property (IP) licensing of different system-on-a-chip (SoC) components, tapeouts in advanced process geometries, carrier certifications, and significant software investments. Furthermore, Altair had to meet aggressive time-to-market and price targets for its chipsets. The company's product portfolio, divided into Supercharged LTE and LTE for IoT, presented different challenges, whether it was to enhance performance or reduce power consumption.
The Solution
To overcome these challenges, Altair turned to Cadence's analog IP solutions. Cadence provided a complete suite of analog IP, analog design, and integration expertise, along with controller and PHY IP for LPDDR2, USB 2.0, and M-PCIe interfaces. Cadence's analog IP solutions enabled Altair to develop leading-edge, low-power analog product designs without compromising performance. The company was able to reduce its development cycle significantly, thanks to Cadence's experienced team and fast customer support. Cadence also performed co-simulation with Altair's RF circuit to ensure there were no issues, leading to a successful tapeout and a design that worked the first time on the test chip. By offering a single source of IP for USB, memory, peripherals, and analog, Cadence made it easier for Altair to integrate blocks and optimize layouts to fit the chip floor plan.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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