Altera and Aplus Design Technology Ink OEM Agreement

Altera Licenses PALACE Physical Synthesis Software for MAX 3000 and MAX 7000 CPLD Families

SAN JOSE, Calif. and LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Altera Corporation and Aplus Design Technology (ADT) today announced an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement to provide ADT's physical synthesis tool for Altera's complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs). Under this agreement, Altera has licensed ADT's PALACE(TM) physical synthesis software, a fully automated physical synthesis tool, for its MAX® 3000 and MAX 7000 CPLD families. The PALACE software is completely integrated into Altera's MAX+PLUS® II design software, enabling a simple push-button design flow that provides up to a 50 percent performance improvement and better place-and-route fitting after pin assignments are locked down.

"Our main goal is to provide our customers with leading-edge tools and design flows that significantly improve design performance and ultimately achieve faster time-to-market," said Tim Southgate, vice president of software and tools marketing for Altera. "By partnering with ADT, we are able to provide our MAX device customers with a complete, easy-to-use design environment that significantly improves performance."

"By integrating the PALACE software with the MAX+PLUS II tool, our mutual customers will see a significant performance and fitting improvement," said Behrooz Zahiri, vice president of marketing at ADT. "ADT is committed to providing physical synthesis technology for Altera's programmable logic devices. This partnership validates that combining ADT's physical synthesis technology with Altera's development tools achieves higher performance and productivity."

Pricing and Availability

Altera's MAX+PLUS® II design software is now shipping to all customers on active software subscription. The annual subscription for the Altera design software is $2,000 for a node-locked PC license, which includes full-featured Quartus® II and MAX+PLUS II design software, OEM synthesis tools from Mentor Graphics, OEM simulation tools from Model Technology, and 12 months of software upgrades. New or existing customers may obtain a software subscription on-line on the Altera web site, http://www.altera.com , or from Altera distributors worldwide. Customers can also download the free MAX+PLUS II BASELINE web edition software from the Altera web site.

About Altera's MAX Devices

Altera's MAX brand of CPLDs are non-volatile, general-purpose programmable logic devices (PLDs) that address a broad range of applications, including consumer, communications, industrial, and computing markets. Built using CMOS floating-gate process technology, MAX devices are based on the advanced Multiple Array Matrix (MAX) architecture and offer densities from 600 to 12,000 usable gates.

About Altera

Altera Corporation is the world's pioneer in system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions. Combining programmable logic technology with software tools, intellectual property, and technical services, Altera provides high-value programmable solutions to approximately 14,000 customers worldwide. More information is available at http://www.altera.com .

About ADT

Aplus Design Technologies, Inc. (ADT) is a privately held company providing advanced physical synthesis and architecture development tools for high-performance, high-density programmable logic devices (PLDs). Combining advanced logic synthesis with physical design, ADT's physical synthesis tool PALACE performs architecture specific optimization to offer at least one technology generation performance advantage over the existing design tools. The company is located in Los Angeles, California, and its website is http://www.aplus-dt.com .

NOTE: 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. PALACE is a trademark of Aplus Design Technologies, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holders.

CONTACT: Behrooz Zahiri of Aplus Design Technology, +1-310-441-9365, ext. 34, or marketing@aplus-dt.com; or Ami Dorrell of Altera Corporation, +1-408-544-6397, or newsroom@altera.com.