Altera SOPC Solutions Power NEC's 3G Wireless Networking

Altera Corporation announced that its system-on-a-programmable chip (SOPC) solutions deliver flexible, low-cost functionality to NEC's industry-leading 3G mobile core network products.

Picture shows SOPC Builder is an automated system development tool that dramatically simplifies the task of creating high-performance system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) designs.

NEC chose Altera over other programmable logic vendors for several reasons, including device performance and price, a comprehensive intellectual property (IP) portfolio, and the need for the highest design flexibility. NEC's mobile core networking is enabling the creation of the first 3G communications networks in Japan, allowing consumers "on the go" to access all their favorite forms of digital media including music, photos, voice, video, internet, and visual phones.

"Programmable logic is an important part of our system architecture," noted Masakazu Kawakami, assistant general manager of the IP Network division at NEC Corporation. "Altera's programmable logic devices, along with their IP selection, offer many of the benefits that we need to be successful."

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NEC's 3G products include the Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) Mobile Switching Center (MSC) and W-CDMA Radio Network Controller (RNC). When developing these products, NEC engineers required a high degree of design freedom that only Altera® programmable logic devices (PLDs) could provide. Altera PLD flexibility allowed NEC to quickly adapt to changes in the latest communication protocols and adjust their designs to meet the real-time needs of their customers, speeding their products to market.

"When industry leaders like NEC choose Altera solutions, it validates the strength of our product offering to 3G infrastructure developers," said Arun Iyengar, director of the wireless business unit at Altera Corporation. "The benefits provided by Altera SOPC solutions are invaluable in rapidly evolving areas like 3G communications where standards are still changing and the next generation of services is a moving target."