Semiconductor companies looking to compete in the LTE space may find they can get to market faster with Aricent’s LTE Evolved Node B Layers 1 and 2 development suite, which the company introduced today.

Aricent said the combination of software and development services accelerates the prototyping and development of new chipsets and testing systems for LTE supporting mixed data, voice, video and messaging traffic.

A lot of development is going on and semiconductor and testing manufacturers are competing to be first to market in the LTE space, according to Sudhir Tangri, assistant vice president of marketing in the wireless and convergence business unit. “We are working with semiconductor companies to provide them the software solutions to help them hit the market faster,” he said.

Aricent already signed up two unnamed semiconductor vendors and expects more in the next few months.

Aricent works on the WiMAX front as well, believing that LTE and WiMAX will co-exist and play different roles in developed and emerging markets.

Aricent was formed as a result of private equity-funded spinout from Flextronics. Another part of the company includes Frog Design, the creative consultancy. In May, Aricent made Celltop, which Alltel offered exclusively for a year, available for the international market.

Amid broader economic turmoil, the company earlier this month announced a hiring spree, adding about 800 employees in a span of 90 days, with an emphasis on its India operations. In September, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company announced new funding from existing investor KKR and new investor The Family Office, based in Bahrain.