Imagination and Altair report growing traction for Altair's LTE devices with MIPS CPUs

Altair Semiconductor’s FourGee chipsets are engine inside millions of devices from 30+ manufacturers

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, Barcelona, Spain – 2^nd March, 2015 – Imagination Technologies (IMG.L) and Altair Semiconductor report growing market traction for Altair’s LTE chipsets that utilize MIPS CPUs. Altair’s LTE devices, including the FourGee-3100/6200 chipset, have been the communications engine inside millions of devices sold by more than 30 connected device manufacturers to-date.

Altair’s chipsets with MIPS CPUs inside are designed to support a range of applications, including tablets, mobile hotspots, routers and M2M devices. They are deployed commercially on LTE networks around the world including:

• Verizon Ellipsis 7 tablet, available exclusively from Verizon for its 4G LTE network
• HP Chromebook 11” LTE, an ultra-portable device developed by HP in close collaboration with Google
• ASUS Chromebook 13.3” LTE, available at major retailers across the United States
• D-Link LTE eMBMS-enabled HDMI dongle, the first such product that is compatible with a leading U.S. carrier’s 4G LTE network
• First International Computer, Inc. (FIC) Elija TF9300 9.7” Android tablet, a 3.5GHz LTE-enabled tablet computer
• SoftBank BB Corp. devices used for its wireless Internet service in Japan

In addition, the FourGee-3800/6300 Category 4 chipset, the successor of the Category 3 FourGee-3100/6200 chipset, recently achieved Verizon Wireless chipset certification. The 3800/6300 chipset features download speeds of 150Mbps and upload speeds of 50Mbps, and supports advanced features such as VoLTE and eMBMS. It is already designed into multiple modules and end-user devices and is deployed commercially in leading carrier markets.

Eran Eshed, co-founder and VP marketing and business development for Altair, says: “MIPS CPUs are a key component of our FourGee LTE chipsets. The small silicon area of MIPS is key for highly cost-sensitive applications such as LTE, and its efficiency means we can achieve the highest levels of performance in the smallest silicon area and with the lowest power consumption. Imagination is a key partner for Altair to ensure the best possible solutions for next-generation LTE devices for mobile devices, IoT applications and beyond.”

Says Tony King-Smith, EVP marketing, Imagination Technologies: “MIPS CPUs are an ideal fit for LTE chipsets, and MIPS multi-threading technology offers a compelling value proposition for these devices. We are delighted that Altair recognizes this. The market clearly acknowledges the value of LTE-only devices, and we are delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with Altair as they continue to drive the MIPS architecture into a new generation of exciting new LTE enabled products.”

Altair’s chipsets leverage multiple MIPS CPUs controlling various functions, including the network processor subsystems. The multi-threading capability in the MIPS CPUs can be a particularly advantageous in balancing cost, performance and power, and can boost performance where multiple latency-sensitive tasks must be handled simultaneously.

About Imagination Technologies

Imagination is a global technology leader whose products touch the lives of billions of people across the globe. The company’s broad range of silicon IP (intellectual property) includes the key processing blocks needed to create the SoCs (Systems on Chips) that power all mobile, consumer and embedded electronics. Its unique software IP, infrastructure technologies and system solutions enable its customers get to market quickly with complete and highly differentiated SoC platforms. Imagination’s licensees include many of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers, network operators and OEMs/ODMs who are creating some of the world’s most iconic products. See: www.imgtec.com.