Accelerated Technology's Nucleus RTOS to Support Altera's Nios Soft Core Embedded Processor
ATI Enters Fast-Growing SOPC Market with Nucleus Support for Altera's Nios(TM) Soft Core Embedded Processor
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2001--
System developers designing with Altera Corporation's
(Nasdaq:ALTR - news) Nios soft core embedded processor will be able to
implement Accelerated Technology, Inc.'s (ATI) Nucleus real-time
operating system (RTOS) into their designs, the two companies
announced today. In an agreement between Altera and ATI, the Nucleus
RTOS will support the Nios 2.0 soft core, the second version of the
industry's first general-purpose RISC-based soft core embedded
processor optimized for programmable logic.
The combination of the Nios soft core and the Nucleus RTOS
simplifies design processes and improves time-to-market for designers
building applications in the areas of low-volume consumer products,
digital entertainment, networking and telecommunications, as well as
leading edge applications employing Bluetooth.
"The adoption of programmable logic in embedded designs is
shortening development cycles considerably and Altera is pioneering a
new frontier in programmable logic with the Nios soft core embedded
processor," said Neil Henderson, president of Accelerated Technology,
Inc.
The Nios soft core, a general-purpose RISC CPU component of
Altera's Excalibur(TM) embedded processor solutions, enables engineers
to integrate systems on a single programmable logic device (PLD). The
Nios 2.0 soft core, which is scheduled to be made available in late
December, will provide system integration and customization advantages
not available in other processors.
ATI's Nucleus PLUS is a flexible and scalable real-time kernel,
and Nucleus NET is a full-featured TCP/IP protocol stack. Together,
these compose the software portion of a system-on-a-programmable-chip
(SOPC) application using the Nios soft core. SOPC developers designing
with the Nios soft core can create a custom microcontroller system by
utilizing the SOPC Builder development tool included with the
Excalibur Development Kit featuring the Nios embedded processor. Using
a wizard, developers can select size or speed optimization, as well as
an entire catalog of peripheral options at the push of a button.
"The Nios soft core's integration and configurability is perfectly
matched by the robustness of ATI's Nucleus solution," said Anna
Chiang, director of Marketing for Altera's Excalibur business unit.
"Widespread industry support for the Nucleus RTOS and the availability
of automated porting tools make ATI an obvious choice for both Altera
and our customers."
About Nucleus
The Nucleus PLUS kernel provides efficient, high performance task
management, inter-task communication, inter-task synchronization,
memory management, and component query features. The kernel handles
difficult issues such as priority inversion while minimizing the
interrupt latency to a few microseconds.
Nucleus NET is a scalable embedded TCP/IP stack built from the
ground up for the real-time embedded market. Critical portions of the
stack have been optimized, resulting in a stack that is among the
smallest and fastest on the market. Nucleus NET's basic protocols
include: TCP, UDP, IP, ICMP, IGMP, ARP, RARP, DHCP, BOOTP, DNS.
About the Nios Soft Core Embedded Processor
Altera's Nios embedded processor is a soft core CPU optimized for
programmable logic and SOPC integration. It is a configurable,
general-purpose RISC processor that can be combined with user logic
and programmed into an Altera PLD. The Nios CPU can be configured for
a wide range of applications. A 16-bit Nios CPU core running a small
program out of an on-chip ROM embedded system block (ESB) makes an
effective sequence or controller, taking the place of a hard-coded
state machine. A 32-bit Nios CPU core with external FLASH program
storage and large external main memory is a powerful 32-bit embedded
processor system. The Excalibur Nios embedded processor is royalty
free when used in Altera PLDs.
Pricing & Availability
The Excalibur development kit, featuring the Nios 2.0 embedded
processor solution will be available in late December 2001 for $995.
Existing Nios customers will receive the upgrade automatically,
enabling them to take advantage of these powerful new features at no
additional cost. Nucleus embedded software is sold with source code
and without royalty fees. Licenses for Nucleus PLUS start at $12,495.
Licenses for Nucleus NET start at $14,995. Please contact ATI for
additional information.
About Accelerated Technology, Inc.
Accelerated Technology, Inc. provides embedded systems developers
with a focus on service, well-documented source code and industry
leading non-royalty based Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) software.
For more information on our high performance software products, please
visit the Web site www.acceleratedtechnology.com or email us at
info@acceleratedtechnology.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.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are
generally preceded by words that imply a future state such as
"expected" or that imply that a particular future event or events will
occur such as "will". Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking
statements in this release involve risks and uncertainty, including
without limitation the risk that future performance is dependent on
product development schedules, resource allocation, the design
performance of software and other tools, as well as the company's and
third parties' development technology and manufacture capabilities.
Please refer to the company's Securities and Exchange Commission
filings, copies of which are available from the company without
charge.
Note to Editors: Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, the
stylized Altera logo, specific device designations and all other words
that are identified as trademarks and/or service marks are, unless
noted otherwise, the trademarks and service marks of Altera
Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other product or
service names are the property of their respective holders.
Contact:
Altera Corporation
Bruce Fienberg, 408/544-6866
bfienber@altera.com
or
Accelerated Technology, Inc.
Jennifer Whiddon, 251/661-5770 ext. 2140
jwhiddon@atinucleus.com
