Altera's Excalibur(TM) Embedded Processor Solutions Now Supported By Beach Solutions

SAN JOSE, Calif., and TAVISTOCK, Devon, England, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As a founding member of the Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR - news) Excalibur Partner Program (EPP), Beach Solutions announced the development of its EASI-Integrator (TM), an integrated support tool now available for Altera customers designing system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) applications. Created using Beach Solutions' EASI-GEN(TM) (Embedded Application System Interface GENeration) technology, the tool automates the generation of hardware design, product documentation, C access libraries, and verification code, reducing time-to-market in the development of embedded system applications incorporating Excalibur(TM) embedded processor solution.

"Altera continually strives to offer its customers the most productive design tools and technologies," said Mark Dickinson, senior director of Altera's European Technology Center. "With automatic generation of hardware, software and documentation, Beach Solutions' EASI-Integrator facilitates a smooth data flow between different engineering disciplines, ensuring everyone on a project is working with the most up-to-date and accurate interface data."

"We are excited at being able to make our EASI technology available to Altera's customers," said Terry McCloskey, CEO of Beach Solutions. "The high level of integration now possible on a single programmable logic device (PLD), coupled with EASI-GEN tools for design automation, addresses a growing need in the wider marketplace."

EASI-Integrator for ARM®-Based Excalibur Devices

Beach Solutions' EASI-Integrator allows a designer to capture all register map details of each peripheral block in an Excalibur device design in one centralized file. From this single source, various EASI generators can automatically produce a number of output files needed for the design that traditionally would be created manually. These include access libraries in C, test code, and interface logic (in VHDL or Verilog) to connect each intellectual property (IP) block to the on-chip AMBA Bus. A further generator produces a product reference manual giving a consistent detailed description for all address-mapped peripherals in one HTML-formatted document.

The EASI-GEN tools are fully complementary to Altera's Quartus® II development tool suite and provide support for both newly developed customer IP and Altera stripe peripherals. EASI-Integrator includes an extensive tutorial to help new users up the learning curve of SOPC development.

Beach Solutions' family of open-standard EASI-GEN products are already used by many leading OEMs, silicon manufacturers, and development houses to reduce time-to-market and speed the development of embedded system products.

About Altera's Excalibur Embedded Processor Solutions

Combining logic, memory, and a processor core, Altera's Excalibur embedded processor solutions allow engineers to integrate an entire system on a single PLD. The Nios(TM) soft core embedded processor and ARM®-based hard core embedded processor enhance design flexibility, providing different processor cores for use in SOPC applications.

Excalibur embedded processor solutions can be used in any application requiring a processor and programmable logic. They offer full integration with Altera's APEX(TM) PLD architecture and are supported by the Quartus II development tool, optimized for the Excalibur embedded processor families.

About Beach Solutions

Beach Solutions is a 6-year-old embedded systems consultancy and tools company with its headquarters registered near Cambridge, UK. It has extensive experience in embedded system hardware and software design including automatic generation, modelling and simulation technologies. More information can be found at www.beachsolutions.com.

About Altera

Altera Corporation is the world's pioneer of system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions. Combining programmable logic technology with software tools, intellectual property, and technical services, Altera provides high-value programmable solutions to approximately 14,000 customers worldwide. More information is available at www.altera.com.

NOTE: Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, the stylized Altera logo, specific device designations and all other words that are identified as trademarks and/or service marks are, unless noted otherwise, the trademarks and service marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. Embedded Application System Interface, EASI-GEN and EASI-Integrator are trademarks of Beach Solutions Ltd. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holders.

    Editor Contacts:
     Ami Dorrell              Guy Pakenham
     Altera Corporation       Beach Solutions
     408-544-6879             949-916-8468
     adorrell@altera.com      guy.pakenham@beachsolutions.com