Altera Accelerates SOPC Development With New Quartus II Design Methodologies

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 2001--Altera Corporation (Nasdaq:ALTR) today introduced new design methodologies to accelerate the development of next-generation system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) designs. These methodologies provide designers the ability to control place-and-route, automate intellectual property (IP) integration, and optimize the workflow for ARM®-based Excalibur(TM) embedded processor implementations.

``Customers are developing chips that include more functionality than entire boards did a few years ago,'' said David Greenfield, Altera director of tools marketing. ``As the complexity of SOPC designs increases, the design methodology must evolve to support its development with new techniques to address system-level challenges.''

As part of that evolution, the introduction today of Quartus® II version 1.1 design software includes Altera's proprietary LogicLock(TM) incremental design methodology and support for the APEX(TM) II programmable logic device (PLD) family. LogicLock incremental design allows the developer to lock down specific blocks of logic to a selected region of the chip, providing performance preservation and control over placement as changes are made to the design. The LogicLock feature puts the control over placement into the hands of the designer, providing an unprecedented ease of use and the ability to optimize their designs for performance and area. Altera will demonstrate the software at the Design Automation Conference next week in Las Vegas (booth 2700).

Improved IP Integration

Altera is also introducing a comprehensive methodology for IP integration. This includes automation tools that accelerate access to evaluation versions of MegaCore® and AMPP(SM) products directly from the Quartus II software and GUI-driven support for third-party synthesis of these cores. Quartus II version 1.1 also provides the capability to simulate evaluation versions of Altera IP in any third-party simulation environment. To increase support for communication system design, Altera is developing a seamless interface between leading DSP algorithmic design and simulation environments and the Quartus II software. This flow provides modeling capabilities of Altera megafunctions in the DSP-specific environments, as well as the ability to export the DSP designs to the Quartus II software for synthesis, simulation, and place-and-route trade-off analysis.

``These new innovations transform what has traditionally been a serious engineering challenge for ASIC design into a push-button exercise for programmable logic,'' said Craig Lytle, vice president of Altera's intellectual property business unit.

The final addition to Altera's methodology capabilities extends the scope of Altera's design environment to include embedded software design. Altera has made a version of the ARM Development Suite tools available as a standard benefit of the Altera Subscription Program. Customers who maintain an active subscription will have access to support for embedded software design tools for the ARM-based Excalibur embedded processor solutions.

Altera development tools will also continue to focus on enhancing the placement and routing algorithms to provide faster fMAX performance and reduced compile times. Industry leadership in these areas is a key component of Altera's best-in-class development software. Quartus II software releases during 2001 will enhance placement algorithms to provide an additional 20 percent performance boost, providing a tighter link between synthesis and placement. These enhancements provide a direct performance boost for Altera's APEX architectures.

Pricing and Availability

Altera's Quartus II version 1.1 software will ship to all customers on active subscription in July. Altera's software subscription program simplifies the process of obtaining Altera development tools by consolidating all software products and maintenance charges into one annual subscription payment. The annual subscription for the Altera development tools is $2,000 for a node-locked PC license, which includes full-featured Quartus II and MAX+PLUS® II development software, OEM synthesis tools from Exemplar, OEM simulation tools from ModelTechnology, and 12 months of software upgrades. New or existing customers may obtain a software subscription at the Programmable eStore on the Altera web site, http://www.altera.com, or from Altera distributors worldwide.

About Altera

Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company®, was founded in 1983 and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices (PLDs). Altera's CMOS-based PLDs are user-programmable semiconductor chips that enhance flexibility and reduce time-to-market for companies in the communications, computer peripheral, and industrial markets. By using high performance devices, software development tools, and sophisticated intellectual property cores, system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions can be created with embedded processors, memory, and other complex logic together on a single PLD. Altera common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera is available on the Internet at http://www.altera.com.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains ``forward-looking statements'' that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words that imply a future state such as ``expected'' or that imply that a particular future event or events will occur such as ``will.'' Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainty, including without limitation the risk that future performance is dependent on product development schedules, the design performance of software and other tools, as well as the company's and third parties' development technology and manufacture capabilities. Please refer to the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, copies of which are available from the company without charge.

Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, Quartus, Excalibur, LogicLock, APEX, MegaCore, AMPP, and specific device designations, are trademarks and/or service marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective holder.

ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

Note: In ``fMAX,'' ``MAX'' is subscript.

Contact:
     Altera Corporation, San Jose
     Bruce Fienberg, 408/544-6866
     bfienber@altera.com
      or
     PR21
     Matthew Stotts, 415/369-8117
     matthew.stotts@pr21.com