QUALCOMM* CDMA Technologies

Success Story

QUALCOMM requires an efficient development environment to produce millions of 3G chipsets each year. The company wanted to move its Linux* environment to a 64-bit platform running on AMD* Opteron* processors. SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server supported the migration, while doubling performance and reducing hardware costs by 50 percent

Overview

QUALCOMM Incorporated is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2005 FORTUNE 500* company.

Challenge

QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies (QCT), a QUALCOMM business unit, is the largest provider of 3G chipset and software technology in the world, with more than 90 million 3G chipsets and 1 billion total chips shipped. With the largest CDMA engineering team in the wireless industry, QCT is always looking for the fastest, most cost-effective development environment available.

After evaluating the AMD Opteron processor, QCT decided to move much of its CDMA development to a Linux 64-bit platform to improve the performance of its Electronic Data Automation (EDA) applications. The company had plans to double the size of its infrastructure and began searching for a Linux solution that would support its migration path, without creating excessive hardware or operating system costs.

Novell solution

"The clean kernel of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 is easy to customize and there is less need for back porting, so we can spend more time on business issues rather than patching."

Mike Broxterman
Staff IT Engineer Manager
QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies

QCT had been running Red Hat*, but also evaluated a couple of other open source distributions as it prepared to move to a 64-bit platform. The company selected SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, an early adopter of AMD Opteron.

"Because Opteron is a new chip, we looked for a Linux company that had experience with it and that could meet our requirements," said Mike Broxterman, Staff IT Engineer Manager at QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies. "SUSE Linux Enterprise Server gave us great Opteron support right out of the box and will simplify our migration path with a better price and improved performance."

QCT completed benchmark testing with AMD Opteron and found that even in 32-bit mode it ran as fast, if not faster, than its existing 32-bit hardware. The company can now buy more hardware for a fraction of the cost of proprietary UNIX* systems. Running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on a 64-bit platform helps QUALCOMM engineers perform more frequent testing and get chips out the door faster.

"If we can test circuitry 100 times an hour, rather than 50, we save money on our EDA software licenses," said Mike Marion, Senior Linux Administrator at QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies.

Based on the 2.6 kernel, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 significantly reduces maintenance time and allows the IT team to better manage and customize its infrastructure. The IT team can install new machines in minutes and easily make customizations during installation.

"Many of the chip designers are moving to Linux because it's faster, cheaper and is attracting more support from vendors," said Broxterman. "The clean kernel of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 is easy to customize and there is less need for back porting, so we can spend more time on business issues rather than patching."

Novell® provides QCT with an entire ecosystem of Linux support including training, certification, consulting and technical services. With Novell Premium Support, QCT has priority access to dedicated support personnel 24/7. Flexible licensing and pricing options help the company keep costs under control as it doubles the size of its infrastructure.

"Novell was extremely flexible in working with our pricing concerns," said Marion. "Novell let us buy licenses and then work out our support options."

Results

By migrating its EDA environment to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 and AMD Opteron, QCT has reduced its hardware costs by more than 50 percent, while doubling performance. A clean kernel simplifies customizations and has helped the company reduce the time spent on patches by nearly 50 percent, freeing up IT staff for more important projects. The ability to work in a 64-bit environment helps the company produce chips significantly faster and with the highest quality.

"We are heavily invested in Linux," said Broxterman. "Many of the other vendors we work with are excited that we've chosen SUSE Linux because they like working with the kernel. We haven't found any hardware that isn't compatible with SUSE."