Altair Semiconductor technology today revealed that its technology is powering the new Novatel Wireless4G LTE personal mobile hotspot, which was introduced last week.
Novatel pioneered the MiFi product category. Its new product on this front, called the MiFi M100 Dragon, can connect up to 15 devices simultaneously; is compatible with LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 12 and 17; enables fast LTE service on U.S. Cellular and its roaming partners’ networks; and includes security such as anti-CSRF (spoofing), corporate VPN compatibility, hacker prevention, and password protection. The MiFi M100 Dragon is also able to operate for 10 hours without a recharge; that’s made possible by the power-optimized FourGee-3800/6300 Cat-4 chipset.
“We are pleased to collaborate with Novatel Wireless on the MiFi M100, providing a low-cost, ultra-low power LTE solution that enables affordable and reliable connectivity, as well as extended battery life,” says Eran Eshed, vice president of marketing and business development at Altair. “A 10-hour battery that is dedicated to data will easily outlast a phone's mobile hotspot function, which can quickly drain the phone's battery.”
This deal is testament to Altair's ability to move its traditional business forward at the same time that it is working to educate the market and drive adoption and innovation around Cat-1, Cat-0, and Cat-M LTE. Altair in February unveiled new Cat-0 and Cat-1 LTE-only chipsets, which the vendor says will enable carriers to use LTE in Internet of Things deployments two years earlier than they originally thought possible. These FourGee-1160 Category-1 and FourGee-1150 Category-0 chipsets are designed for use in endpoints such as sensors, smart meters, street lamps, vending machines, wearables, or any other IoT devices. They offer LTE performance at roughly half of what you would pay for an LTE module today and at a comparable cost of what you’d pay for a 2G or 3G module, Eshed said.
“We identified this two-year industry development gap some time ago, and worked hard to achieve our goal of releasing the first true Cat-1 and Cat-0 chipsets that offer a power/size/cost combination that is a massive game changer in this market,” Eshed said at the time. “The traction we have been getting for this chipset is overwhelming, and tells us how strong the need is in the ecosystem for such a solution.”
QUICK LINKS 
