Sequans licenses Ceva IP for 5G platform

  • June 2, 2021
  • Steve Rogerson

Sequans Communications, a provider of 5G and 4G chips and modules for IoT, has licensed the Penta G 5G new radio (NR) IP from California-based Ceva to power its upcoming 5G platform.

French firm Sequans will leverage Penta G to ensure its 5G platform meets the performance, low latency and strict power budget requirements of the IoT industry.

“5G transforms and broadens the use of cellular connectivity in applications including fixed wireless access, AR, VR, XR, smart manufacturing, remote medicine and more,” said Bertrand Debray, executive vice president at Sequans. “Ceva’s Penta G modem IP provides us with a powerful DSP along with a comprehensive set of hardware and software technologies that shorten the design cycle for our upcoming 5G platform and ensure we deliver the industry-leading performance and efficiencies which our customers demand.”

Penta G contains scalar and vector DSP processors, co-processors, AI processor, accelerators, software and other essential IP blocks, in a configurable and modular architecture. It supports the full gamut of 5G eMBB use cases, including standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA), mm-wave and sub-6GHz. It also supports LTE-A Pro (Gigabit LTE) and legacy LTE and 3G technologies.

The platform sustains a bit-rate of more than 10Gbit/s and offers a scalable architecture to support wireless technologies such as massive-mimo, beamforming and complex link adaptation schemes.

Penta G is said to provide a trade-off between hardware and software to meet the power and area requirements of 5G eMBB use cases and yet retain flexibility to guarantee future-proofness.

“Our unique proposition in DSP and 5G new radio modem IP streamlines SoC design for cellular incumbents and newcomers addressing the multitude of new applications that 5G NR presents,” said Michael Boukaya, COO of Ceva. “Sequans stands at the forefront of LTE and 5G modem development, with a successful track record of chipsets and modules in the IoT space. We are pleased to partner with them to provide our Penta G 5G modem IP for their next-generation chips and modules, and work towards our common goal of advancing the 5G broadband IoT industry.”

Ceva is a licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies. It offers digital signal processors, AI processors, wireless platforms and complementary software for sensor fusion, image enhancement, computer vision, voice input and artificial intelligence.