Sanechips (ZTE Microelectronics) Licenses CEVA-X1 IoT Processor for NB-IoT Connected Devices

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Jun 26, 2017, 07:00 ET

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), the leading licensor of signal processing IP for smarter, connected devices, today announced that Sanechips Technology Co., Ltd. (previously named ZTE Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.) has licensed the CEVA-X1 IoT Processor for its Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) product, the RoseFinch7100. Sanechips leveraged the CEVA-X1 to develop an area- and power-optimized NB-IoT solution that is capable of delivering on the promise of long-life, low-cost cellular connectivity for IoT devices.

Demonstrating their commitment to NB-IoT, Sanechips recently took part in the first large scale field test of NB-IoT using its pre-commercial RoseFinch chipset. The trial, organized by China Mobile, tested the network of the entire mobile chain including core network, terminals and apps and was reported to have been successful in every aspect.

"NB-IoT is set to dominate long range IoT connectivity on a global scale, and Sanechips is proud to be at the forefront of this revolution," said Zhou Jin, Marketing director of Sanechips. "Closely collaborating with CEVA ensures we develop best-in-class products like the RoseFinch7100 that will enable mass market adoption of this technology. The CEVA-X1 IoT processor delivers exceptional performance within the stringent power and cost constraints of NB-IoT devices."

"We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Sanechips for their NB-IoT chipset designs," said Michael Boukaya, Vice President and General Manager, Wireless Business Unit at CEVA. "As the only end-to-end DSP provider for cellular, we leveraged our unique expertise to ensure our CEVA-X1 processor meets and exceeds the performance requirements of NB-IoT. This license deal with Sanechips represents a strong endorsement of our IoT processor for this new and exciting market."

About RoseFinch7100
RoseFinch7100, the first commercial NB-IoT single-chip from Sanechips which integrates the low power/high performance CEVA-X1 DSP IP for baseband, will be released in September 2017. This single chip has been designed for Cellular LPWA with the following characteristics: Lower sleep current 2uA and voltage 2V can provide longer battery life; Cloud-Chip Global Security based on Trusted Zone; up to 30 GPIOs and all R14 Frequency Bands; no need for an external MCU as the RoseFinch7100 can provide strong connectivity for most LPWA applications independently.

About CEVA-X1
CEVA-X1 is a hybrid DSP and microcontroller processor targeted for a broad range of endpoints and IoT hub devices, capable of handling both the protocol stack and physical layer for M2M. The CEVA-X1 is ideal for a variety of use cases and workloads, including LTE Cat-NB1 (NB-IoT) and Cat-M1, Sigfox, LoRa, Wi-Fi 802.11n, 802.11ah, Bluetooth, BLE, Zigbee/Thread, along with positioning and motion-sensing functions including GNSS (GPS, Beidou, GLONASS, Galileo), fusion of multiple indoor positioning and activity sensors, voice activation, and sound processing. CEVA-X1 contains specialized instructions to optimize overall system power, performance and chip area for baseband channel coding/decoding functions, as well as fusion of multiple always-on sensors. Thanks to these optimizations, 5 to 10 year single battery operation at a very low cost is easily achievable. The CEVA-X1 is supported by market-leading hardware and software development tools, software libraries and the extensive CEVAnet partner ecosystem. For more information, visit http://www.ceva-dsp.com/product/ceva-x1/

About Sanechips Technology Co., Ltd.
Sanechips Technology Co., Ltd., the new name of Shenzhen ZTE Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. established in 1996, has 20 years R&D experience with 3000 patents (top1 of China in 2016), and more than 2000 employees located at 9 R&D centers globally in China, Canada & the USA. As a Communication Chipset focused IC company, Sanechips has a full roadmap for Cloud/Channel/Device, its total sale revenue is over $0.82B (5.6 billion RMB, top3 of China in 2016). Based on WiseFone 4G chipset, multiple MBB, M2M & creative devices have been shipped to China & 30 overseas countries in 2016. Strategically, Sanechips pays close attention to NB-IoT & 5G chipsets that it believes can generate tens of millions of shipments and help Sanechips become the world's leading Communication IC Company in the future.

About CEVA, Inc.
CEVA is the leading licensor of signal processing IP for a smarter, connected world. We partner with semiconductor companies and OEMs worldwide to create power-efficient, intelligent and connected devices for a range of end markets, including mobile, consumer, automotive, industrial and IoT. Our ultra-low-power IPs for vision, audio, communications and connectivity include comprehensive DSP-based platforms for LTE/LTE-A/5G baseband processing in handsets, infrastructure and machine-to-machine devices, advanced imaging, computer vision and deep learning for any camera-enabled device, audio/voice/speech and ultra-low power always-on/sensing applications for multiple IoT markets. For connectivity, we offer the industry's most widely adopted IPs for Bluetooth (low energy and dual mode), Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac up to 4x4) and serial storage (SATA and SAS). Visit us at www.ceva-dsp.com and follow us on Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

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SOURCE CEVA, Inc.