First baseband processor optimized for handheld devices, offering a combination
of ultra-low power consumption, smallest footprint and low cost

Hod Hasharon, Israel, March 11, 2008 - Altair Semiconductor (Altair), a fabless chip company developing the world's most advanced mobile WiMAX semiconductors for handheld devices, today announced the release of the ALT2150 mobile WiMAX baseband processor to leading handheld device and module manufacturers. The ALT2150, the world’s smallest and most power-efficient mobile WiMAX processor, implements full WiMAX Forum™ Wave-2 physical (PHY) Layer and Media Access Control (MAC) functionality, and offers substantial performance enhancements beyond this profile.

“The ALT2150 is not just another WiMAX baseband processor – it represents a true disruption in terms of power consumption, size and cost,” said Eran Eshed, Altair’s co-founder and vice president of Marketing and Business Development. “Over the past two and a half years, we’ve invested tremendous time and effort to develop a solution that would not only match, but outperform state-of-the-art cellular chipset power consumption. We believe that this is the key to unlocking the real mass market potential of mobile WiMAX handheld devices.”

The ALT2150 is the first in a family of chipsets from Altair crafted to achieve excellent modem performance, while consuming a fraction of the power of any mobile WiMAX chipset available today.  Altair’s product strategy is unique in the WiMAX chip landscape, with an exclusive focus on battery-operated, handheld devices that impose very strict power consumption and size requirements on semiconductor content. Altair is the first and only mobile WiMAX chip company that developed a proprietary, highly programmable Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) processor (codenamed O²Pâ„¢), rather than choosing to integrate a conventional communications Digital Signal Processor (DSP).

“What we’re seeing in the ALT2150 is truly revolutionary in terms of size, power consumption and cost,” said Haig Sarkissian, principal consultant at WiMAX 20/20, an independent market research and consulting company focused solely on the emerging broadband wireless market. “Based on our assessment of the ALT2150’s specifications, and after comparing it to comparable offerings, we believe that Altair is strategically positioned to bring a highly competitive mobile WiMAX processor solution to the marketplace.”

Altair’s ALT2150 Feature Highlights Include:

• Full compliance with mobile WiMAX Wave-2 features

• Patent pending ELPâ„¢ – Extreme Low Power technology

• Power consumption figures of a complete Mobile WiMAX Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) solution, which includes an ALT2150, RF Transceiver, Power Amplifier and Power Management:

•  
  • 10Mbps FTP download        - 142mW
  • 1Mbps FTP upload               - 125mW
  • Streaming H.264 video        - 81mW
  • VoIP call                               - 98mW
  • Standby current                   - <0.5mA

• Features Altair’s proprietary Optimized OFDMA Processor (O²P) for excellent PHY performance, ultra-low power consumption and future proof algorithmic implementation
• Industry’s highest performance MIMO decoder, supporting up to 64QAM Matrix-B decoding
• Built-in, patent pending solution for coexistence of WiMAX with Bluetooth and WiFi
• Smallest package in the industry, 7x7 mm low-profile Ball Grid Array

“Today, we’re proud to demonstrate that an ALT2150-based handheld device consumes less power than an equivalent High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) or Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) solution, and with its unique architecture and high level of integration, allows us to offer a highly cost-efficient solution,” said Eshed.

About Altair Semiconductor
Altair is the world's leading developer of ultra-low power, small footprint and high performance mobile WiMAX semiconductors that take broadband bandwidth beyond notebooks and USB adaptors to un-tethered, battery-operated handheld devices. The company's products provide handheld device manufacturers, integrating WiMAX into their products with a highly power-optimized, robust and cost-effective solution. Altair is privately held and has raised a total of $26M in two rounds of financing.

For more information, visit www.altair-semi.com [1].