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SAN JOSE, Calif., July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR) and Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX - ) today announced settlement of all patent litigation between the companies. As part of this agreement, Altera and Xilinx have entered into a royalty-free patent cross license agreement and signed a patent peace agreement prohibiting further patent litigation between the two companies for the next five years. In connection with this agreement, Xilinx will receive a one-time payment of $20 million from Altera. All other terms of the agreement are confidential.

``It's time for both companies to bury the hatchet and declare a meaningful patent peace that is in the best interest of our customers, shareholders, partners and employees,'' said Wim Roelandts, president and CEO of Xilinx. ``This agreement enables both companies to focus their energies on technological innovation and the competition that matters most -- in the marketplace.''

``This agreement recognizes both companies' contributions and innovations and establishes a genuine patent peace,'' said John Daane, president and CEO of Altera. ``Our collective talents now may be directed exclusively at delivering innovation to our customers and expanding the market opportunities for programmable logic.''

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the leading innovator of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, high-reliability/military, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com .

About Altera

Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company®, was founded in 1983 and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices (PLDs). Altera's CMOS-based PLDs are user-programmable semiconductor chips that enhance flexibility and reduce time-to-market for companies in the communications, computer peripheral, and industrial markets. By using high performance devices, software development tools, and sophisticated intellectual property cores, system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions can be created with embedded processors, memory, and other complex logic together on a single PLD. Altera common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera is available on the Internet at http://www.altera.com .

NOTE: Altera and The Programmable Solutions Company are trademarks and/or service marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.