Cadence Design Systems > Case Studies > Altair's Success in LTE Market with Cadence's Analog IP Solutions

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

With Cadence's analog IP solutions, Altair was able to develop low-power analog designs in shorter timeframes without compromising performance. The company was able to more easily integrate blocks and optimize layouts to fit the chip floor plan, thanks to Cadence's single source of IP for USB, memory, peripherals, and analog. This not only helped Altair to reduce its development cycle significantly but also ensured a successful tapeout and a design that worked the first time on the test chip. The experience and fast customer support from Cadence's analog IP team were also invaluable in this process. As a result, Altair was able to compete effectively in the rapidly growing LTE market space.

Quantitative Benefit

Up to eight months faster time to market
Leading-edge products at a lower cost in terms of time, engineering, and tapeout
Successful tapeout and a design that worked the first time on the test chip