Actel Delivers Development Kit for ARM7-Enabled FPGAs

Complete Environment Enables Easy Evaluation and Development of ARM7-Based FPGA Designs

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Feb. 28, 2006 -- Actel Corporation (Nasdaq: ACTL) today announced the availability of the CoreMP7 Development Kit, a complete hardware and software development environment for the implementation of the company's CoreMP7 soft ARM7(TM) processor core. Providing users with everything needed to quickly and easily evaluate and design FPGA-based system-on-chip (SoC) applications, the kit includes the award-winning CoreMP7, the Actel ARM7-enabled M7 ProASIC3 device and FPGA development tools.

"Leveraging the combination of FPGA flexibility, fast time to market and industry-standard ARM7 processor technology, the CoreMP7 Development Kit simplifies the evaluation and development of sophisticated SoCs," said Mike Thompson, manager, IP marketing at Actel. "This kit is a comprehensive environment, including the tools required for assembly, simulation, synthesis, layout, programming and debug as well as the interfaces and I/Os needed to create a real-world, system-level design."

Features of the CoreMP7 Development Kit

The Development Kit includes a standalone development board and the CoreConsole IP Deployment Platform (IDP), the Libero Gold Integrated Design Environment (IDE), GNU software tools and a CoreMP7 debugger. In addition, a FlashPro3 programmer is optionally available to provide programming and debug support for both the FPGA fabric and the ARM7 software.

Interfacing seamlessly, the CoreConsole IDP and the Libero IDE together enable designers to assemble, simulate, synthesize, layout, program and debug a CoreMP7-based system. To further ease ARM7 software program development for CoreMP7, the CoreConsole IDP outputs a memory map and drivers that can be utilized with the GNU software tools.

The board is available with either an M7A3PE600 or M7A3P1000 device in an FG484 package, providing FPGA real estate for design implementation. It also includes: Ethernet, RS232, USB and CAN interface connectors; PHY interfaces; up to 150 user-defined I/Os for easy connection to other systems and components in an application; and 2M SRAM and 2M flash memory.

Pricing and Availability

Available now, the CoreMP7 Development Kit is priced at $695. The kit with the FlashPro3 programmer is priced at $795.

About CoreMP7

In partnership with ARM(R), Actel offers the 32-bit ARM7 family microprocessor for use in its products free of license fees, greatly reducing the cost of entry and increasing designer access to SoC development with the ARM7 family. Exploiting the benefits of Actel's flash-based architecture, CoreMP7, the first soft ARM7 microprocessor core for FPGAs, is available for use in ARM7-enabled versions of Actel's flash-based FPGAs.

About The ProASIC3 Family

Actel's ProASIC3 family delivers 64-bit, 66MHz PCI performance and is the industry's first device with on-chip user flash memory. The family helps to lower overall system costs by eliminating the need for various components on the system board, reducing board space and thereby increasing reliability, simplifying inventory management and lowering total system cost by as much as 70 percent compared to similar SRAM-based FPGA solutions.

About Actel

Actel Corporation is the leader in single-chip FPGA solutions. The company is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol ACTL and is headquartered at 2061 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, Calif., 94043-4655. For more information about Actel, visit www.actel.com. Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835).