``We have seen increased demand for optimized IP targeted to meet the high performance and reduced development times required in the communications marketplace,'' said Dennis Kish, corporate vice president of marketing at Actel. ``These Actel developed IP cores coupled with the company's high-performance devices, provide designers with the solutions necessary to meet customers' stringent design cycle requirements.''

``The introduction of these five high-performance, high-speed IP cores for FPGAs will further extend our capabilities in the communications, networking and telecom markets,'' said Andy Biddle, senior strategic marketing manager at Actel. ``Actel continues to provide its customers with solutions designed to improve design efficiency and convenience, lower development costs and increase time-to-market.''

High-Performance Cores for Communications

Unlike many other core suppliers, Actel provides its cores as source RTL code making their IP cores both portable and low-cost. Of great benefit to designers of complex systems, the RTL code provides a great degree of flexibility, enabling them to quickly make changes that may be required for specific applications. Additionally, the cores are written in HDL code and supplied in Verilog or VHDL to the customer. Each core includes comprehensive documentation and testbenches enabling designers to get started quickly and, if necessary, make modifications to suit their specific needs.

Actel's 8b/10b encoder/decoder enables the physical coding sublayer used in Gigabit Ethernet and fibre channel. It supports data rates in excess of 125 MHz, appropriate for the high-speed data services required by emerging communications and telecom systems. The encoder/decoder has advanced technical features such as disparity and illegal code error checking. The CRC generator validates data frames and ensures that data corruption during transmission is detected. The CRC also supports operating speeds of up to 270 MHz as well as various communications standards including those used in ATM, CANbus and X25.

Price and Availability

Written in flexible, portable HDL code, these cores are supplied in either Verilog or VHDL. Licensing costs of these cores for use in Actel devices are as low as $495 and are currently available.

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains ``forward looking statements,'' which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. ``Forward-looking statements'' describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies, and are generally preceded by words such as ``future'' or ``forward-looking,'' ``plan'' or ``planned,'' ``will'' or ``should,'' ``anticipates'' or ``projected.'' You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that various intellectual property support programs will not be offered as soon as currently anticipated. For a discussion of other factors that could affect the accuracy of the forward-looking statements, please see ``Risk Factors'' in Actel's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q, which will be provided to you free of charge upon request. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and Actel undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

About Actel

Actel is The Programmable ASIC Solutions Company. Programmable ASICs (application specific integrated circuits) offer the benefits of both conventional ASICs (single chip and low power and price) and programmable logic devices (faster time to market plus reduced design and inventory risks). For customers requiring discrete programmable logic solutions, Actel's FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) provide design security, are non-volatile and ``live at power up.'' For customers requiring embedded programmable solutions, Actel's intellectual property cores will enable the integration of reprogrammable logic functions in ASICs or ASSPs (application specific standard products) on standard processes. Customers can further accelerate time to market by using Actel's Protocol Design Services Group. Actel is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ACTL and is located at 955 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, California, 94086-4533. Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835). Internet: http://www.actel.com .

NOTE: The Actel name and logo are registered trademarks of Actel Corporation. All other trademarks and servicemarks are the property of their respective owners.