Altera Introduces Serial RapidIO IP Cores to Ensure Interoperability in Next-Generation Communications Infrastructure

Altera and IDT Team Up to Deliver Serial RapidIO® Gen2 MegaCore® Function IP That Interoperates up to Four Lanes at 6.25 Gbaud

San Jose, Calif., October 31,2012—Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) today announced the availability of its new Serial RapidIO® Gen2 MegaCore® function intellectual property (IP), developed to meet the growing demand for bandwidth in global communications infrastructure systems. The new IP solution has successfully completed full hardware interoperability with the latest RapidIO switch from Integrated Device Technology (IDT),operating at 6.25 Gbaud per lane implemented on a 28 nm Altera Stratix® V FPGA.By verifying interoperability up front, Altera and IDT enable customers deploying RapidIO to reduce interface debug time and focus on the core functions of system design.

“Serial RapidIO is the optimal interconnect for clustering networks of peer-to-peer embedded processors, DSPs, FPGAs and ASICs,” said Alex Grbic, director of product marketing at Altera. “Communication systems are demanding more capacity for data and voice traffic, and Altera’s Serial RapidIO Gen2 IP, interoperating at the fastest rates with IDT switches, eases the implementation of these rapidly evolving applications.”

Altera worked closely with IDT to interoperate its Serial RapidIO Gen2 MegaCore function IP with IDT’s 80HCPS1848 switch in x1, x2 and x4 lane configurations from 6.25G up to 25G of aggregate bandwidth. IDT offers an extensive line of high-performance, low-power, low-latency Gen2 Serial RapidIO solutions, and interoperability with these proven solutions is an important milestone for the Serial RapidIO IP from Altera.

 “IDT and Altera worked together to ensure full interoperability with our RapidIO solutions, and we are pleased to achieve this interworking milestone,” said Tom Sparkman, general manager and vice president of the Communications Division at IDT. “As bandwidth requirements increase in communication systems, our customers rely on IDT’s proven RapidIO switches along with FPGAs from vendors like Altera. The interoperability of our devices allows our customers to design and develop systems with confidence.”

About Altera Serial Rapid IO IP Cores

Altera provides a range of complete FPGA solutions for the development of custom Serial RapidIO processing elements, bridges and switches. Device and IP support are available for Gen1 and Gen2 interfaces up to 6.25 Gbuad in x1, x2, and x4 lane configurations. The IP core has been designed to the latest RapidIO Specification 2.2 providing physical, transport and logical layers with easy-to-use maintenance and I/O system functionality, as well as extensibility to support other functions such as message passing. The solution includes configurable Serial RapidIO IPcores and development boards.

About Stratix V FPGAs

Stratix V FPGAs are the only FPGAs optimized on TSMC's 28 nm High Performance (28HP) high-K metal gate (HKMG) process with more than a one speed-grade advantage over competing devices. Stratix V FPGAs are the industry’s only production monolithic devices with 28 Gbps integrated transceivers. Combined with the added benefits of increased flexibility of partial reconfiguration and Configuration via Protocol (CvP) using the existing PCI Express® (PCIe®) link, Stratix V FPGAs allow designers to increase their system performance and bandwidth while reducing power. These improvements meet the demands of high-performance applications, including wireless base stations and military radars.

Availability

Altera offers a complete system-level, integration-ready Serial RapidIO solution that includes Gen1 and Gen2 Serial RapidIO MegaCore function IP, reference designs and hardware development platforms. For access to the Altera Serial RapidIO Gen2 MegaCore function IP, or for information about the interoperability test report, please contact sales@altera.com. 

About Altera

Altera® programmable solutions enable system and semiconductor companies to rapidly and cost-effectively innovate, differentiate and win in their markets. Find out more about Altera's FPGA, CPL and ASIC devices at www.altera.com.