Altera Delivers PCI-SIG-Compliant x8 PCI Express Solution Supporting Stratix II GX FPGA

San Jose, Calif., May 22, 2006—Altera Corporationtoday announced that its Stratix^® II GX FPGA, PCI Express x8 MegaCore^® intellectual property (IP) core and Stratix II GX-based PCI Express Development Kit passed the PCI-SIG Compliance tests. Altera’s complete solution of devices, IP and new PCI Express Development Kit provides designers with the bandwidth required for storage, computing, networking, video imaging and telecom applications.

“Altera continues to provide the most comprehensive PCI Express solution in the industry, with offerings for x1, x4 and x8 designs,” said Danny Biran, Altera’s vice president of product and corporate marketing. “Passing PCI-SIG compliance testing is a major milestone that highlights the robust performance of Stratix II GX FPGAs, and gives customers a complete, interoperable offering for PCI Express-based applications.”

Designed to meet the need for low power and superior signal integrity for high-speed designs, the Stratix II GX family is Altera’s third-generation of FPGAs with embedded transceivers. With up to 20 low-power transceivers operating between 622 Mbps and 6.375 Gbps, Stratix II GX FPGAs offer a complete, programmable solution for the growing number of applications and protocols requiring high-speed serial transceivers. Protocol support includes PCI Express, Gigabit Ethernet, XAUI, SerialLite II, Serial RapidIO^TM, Serial Digital Interface (SDI), SONET, and Common Electrical Interface 6-Gbps Long Reach and Short Reach (CEI-6G-LR/SR). For more information about Stratix II GX devices, visit www.altera.com/stratix2gx.

The PCI Express IP core includes an IP toolbench GUI for configuration, and the corresponding testbench and reference designs for x1, x4 or x8 endpoint applications. In addition to the Stratix II GX series of FPGAs, the PCI Express IP core also targets Altera^® low-cost Cyclone^TM II FPGAs, high-performance, high-density Stratix II FPGAs, HardCopy^® II structured ASICs and Stratix GX FPGAs.

The PCI Express Development Kit, Stratix II GX Edition includes everything needed to quickly evaluate and validate the functionality of Altera’s PCI Express solution. The Stratix II GX-based PCI Express board included in the kit can be used as a x1, x4 or x8 PCI Express add-in card for prototype development with PCI Express motherboards. It can also be used as a stand-alone card, offering flexibility to support several high-speed protocols including Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, XAUI, and x1 or x4 Serial RapidIO interconnects. For more information about the kit, visit www.altera.com/products/devkits/altera/kit-pciexpress_s2gx.html.

For more information on Altera’s PCI Express solutions, visit www.altera.com/pciexpress.

Availability

Stratix II GX FPGAs are now shipping and available for ordering through Altera distributors worldwide. The PCI Express Development Kit, Stratix II GX Edition is available for ordering through Altera, with a list price of $2,995. The x8 PCI Express MegaCore IP function is available for $25,000. Customers can download a free evaluation version of the IP function from www.altera.com/products/ip/iup/pci-express/m-alt-pcie8.html.

About Altera

Altera’s programmable solutions enable system and semiconductor companies to rapidly and cost-effectively innovate, differentiate and win in their markets. Find out more at www.altera.com.