Leading EDA Vendors Announce Support for Altera's Stratix II Device Family

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Altera Corporation today announced that it has support from the industry's leading EDA companies for its newly introduced Stratix(TM) II device family. Cadence Design Systems , Mentor Graphics(R) Corporation , Synopsys , and Synplicity, Inc. are partnering with Altera to deliver the full benefits of the Stratix II family, Altera's newest high-density FPGA family, and the Quartus(R) II version 4.0 design software. The Stratix II FPGAs' new architecture is based on an innovative, new logic structure that is 25 percent more efficient, has double the density, and is 50 percent faster than the first-generation Stratix family.

"Cadence(R) is working closely with Altera to provide enhanced verification and system design-in support for the new Stratix II high- performance FPGA family," said Paul Estrada, Cadence corporate vice president for market development. "Stratix II customers using the Cadence Incisive(TM) verification platform can benefit from Cadence's new generation verification technology to compress total verification time by up to 50 percent, while teams using the Cadence Silicon-Package-Board design-in solution can reduce their time-to-market by eight to twelve weeks."

Simon Bloch, general manager of the Mentor Graphics FPGA design creation and synthesis division states, "Mentor continues its long-standing partnership with Altera on its new Stratix II device family. Mentor Graphics' complete FPGA flow with the Precision Synthesis(R) product and the FPGA Advantage(R) product provides advanced analysis, physical synthesis, and design optimization." He continued, "Linked with printed circuit board design through the FPGA BoardLink(TM) product, the Mentor Graphics' flow allows true integrated system design. All verifiable through Mentor's Scalable Verification(TM) environment featuring the ModelSim(R) product, Mentor Graphics offers the total solution to design and verify today's most complex designs."

"Synopsys and Altera share a vision for complete design flows and continue to work together to realize the full scope of opportunities created by the Stratix II device family," said Rich Goldman, vice president of strategic market development at Synopsys. "The new range of design opportunities associated with higher capacity and higher performance FPGAs require 'ASIC- strength' design tools. A number of tools included in Synopsys' Galaxy(TM) Design and Discovery(TM) Verification Platforms, such as FPGA synthesis, PrimeTime(R), and VCS(R), have been proven through years of FPGA and ASIC design. These best-in-class tools enable designers around the world to create, verify, and take full advantage of the new Stratix II architecture."

Jeff Garrison, director of FPGA products at Synplicity, adds, "Synplicity and Altera have worked closely over the past year to provide superior support for Altera's new Stratix II device family. Our market-leading synthesis products perform special optimizations to take advantage of new features in Stratix II devices like the complex digital signal processing and memory blocks. We are excited to join Altera in servicing new market segments interested in these powerful new FPGAs."

Tim Southgate, Altera's vice president of software and tools marketing, explains the benefits of a closely knit partnership between Altera and its EDA partners. "The involvement of Cadence, Mentor Graphics, Synopsys, and Synplicity very early in the Stratix II development phase was crucial to delivering a seamless design flow that enables customers to take full advantage of the unique architecture of the Stratix II devices. System designers -- both FPGA architects and ASIC designers looking for an alternative -- now have a powerful design platform that helps them meet their performance, time-to-market, and cost needs."

Pricing and Availability

The Stratix II device family is supported by the Cadence NC-SIM version 5.0, Mentor Graphics Precision version 2004a and ModelSim version 5.7e, Synopsys VCS version 7.0.1, and Synplicity Synplify version 7.3.4.

Quartus II version 4.0 design software is now available to all customers on active subscription. The annual subscription for the Altera(R) design software is $2,000 for a node-locked PC license, which includes full-featured Quartus II design software, OEM simulation tools from Mentor Graphics, and 12 months of software upgrades. New or existing customers may obtain a software subscription at the Altera eStore on the Altera web site, http://www.altera.com/, or from Altera distributors worldwide.

About the Stratix II Device Family

Stratix II FPGAs are the industry's biggest and fastest FPGAs. Developed with an innovative new logic structure, Stratix II devices offer over twice the logic density and 50 percent higher performance at 40 percent lower cost than first-generation Stratix devices. The Stratix II FPGA family is built on TSMC's 90-nm, all-copper process, using low-k dielectric material on 300-mm wafers. The new logic structure allows designers to conserve device resources by packing more functionality into a smaller area. For more information about Stratix II devices, please visit http://www.altera.com/stratix2.

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/.

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 holder.

   Editor Contacts:
   Bruce Feinberg
   Altera Corporation
   (408) 544-6397
   newsroom@altera.com

CONTACT: Bruce Feinberg of Altera Corporation, +1-408-544-6397 or
newsroom@altera.com

Web site: http://www.altera.com/