Mentor Graphics and Altera Deliver PCI Express Reference Design
INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2003--Mentor Graphics
Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT) and Altera Corp. (Nasdaq:ALTR) today
announced a reference design to accelerate the development of
applications based on PCI Express(TM) serial interconnect technology.
The design, which comprises a configurable PCI Express IP core and
in-circuit emulation verification solution from Mentor Graphics(R),
and a Stratix-based PCI card from Altera, is being demonstrated today
in the PCI Express Pavilion, Booth 109, at the Intel Developer Forum.
(Please see the press release: Mentor Graphics Unveils PCI Express
Configurable Controller, Feb. 18, 2003.)
The Mentor Graphics board illustrates a PCI to PCI Express Bridge
application running at full speed in an Altera Stratix PLD- based PCI
card. The system is designed to connect to Mentor Graphics' VStation
hardware emulation platform via a parallel interface, and implements a
back-to-back bridge that converts PCI through to PCI Express Protocol
and back to PCI. Mentor Graphics will show a PC driving a PCI graphics
card through this arrangement and will demonstrate successful signal
transmission of the PCI Express protocol via an Agilent 16702B Logic
Analyzer.
"Altera was a key partner in the development of the Mentor
Graphics PCI Express reference design," said Michael Kaskowitz,
general manager of the Mentor Graphics Intellectual Property (IP)
division. "Altera's Stratix FPGA fabric and development systems
provided the ideal platform for our PCI Express core development.
Through this partnership, our configurable PCI Express core combined
with the 2.5 GHz tranceivers in Altera's Stratix GX FPGAs represent
the industry's first PCI Express solution which incorporates which
incorporates updates from the 264-page PCI Express Base Specification
Errata."
"We're finding the demands of emerging computing and
communications platforms are driving the need for much greater
internal system bandwidth," said Craig Lytle, vice president of
Altera's IP Business Unit. "Mentor Graphics has a clear leadership
position as a provider for PCI Express IP. With an unsurpassed
reputation as an IP developer, we enthusiastically entrust Mentor
Graphics to provide PCI Express as part of their large portfolio of
optimized FPGA cores as a means of satisfying our customers' wide
range of requirements."
The Challenge of Successful PCI Express Implementation
For many designers, new standards are difficult to implement
because of the lack of verified subsystems. The reference design from
Mentor accelerates PCI Express-based system design, provides a PCI
Express test environment and minimizes design risk, enabling these
designers to focus more resources on product differentiation. By using
the PCI to PCI Express feature of the demonstrator boards, customers
can now validate PCI Express using today's PCI based computers.
PCI Express Verification Solution
By working with Mentor emulation solution experts, the PCI Express
reference design has been engineered to run with Mentor's VStation(TM)
and Celaro emulation platforms. Since actual PCI Express systems do
not exist, designers must perform lengthy verification checks in
software and compare results against the paper specification. Mentor
accelerates this process by a million times by connecting the
customer's SoC design to PCI or future PCI Express systems through the
Speed-Bridge(TM) capability of the reference design. This high
performance, in-circuit emulation environment is essential for
comprehensively testing designs with PCI Express interfaces. By
solving the hardware prototyping challenge, Mentor is mitigating the
schedule and development risk associated with developing a PCI Express
verification solution.
Mentor is the only company today providing the complete Design and
Emulation Verification solution for PCI Express.
About PCI Express
PCI Express is quickly emerging as the high-speed interconnect
standard for applications in next generation computing, server,
storage and communications products. The PCI Express architecture is
upward compatible with the PCI usage model and software interfaces for
investment protection and smooth development migration. However, PCI
Express introduces a number of new features such as hot swapping,
power saving modes, traffic management capabilities and scaleable
bandwidth from 250MB/s per lane in each direction to 16G/ps in a
32-lane configuration.
About Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT) is a world leader in
electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products,
consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most
successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in
1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about
$600 million and employs approximately 3,500 people worldwide.
Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road,
Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are
located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314.
World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.
Mentor Graphics is a registered trademark and Inventra and
VStation are trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other
company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks
of their respective owners.
CONTACT: Mentor Graphics
Larry Toda, 503/685-1664
larry_toda@mentor.com
or
Weber Shandwick
Hayley Luz, 503/552-3726
hluz@webershandwick.com
