Altium Nexar Release Heads "LiveDesign-enabled" 2004 Product Line-up; Application Allows Mainstream Engineers to Create Embedded Systems on FPGAs
SYDNEY, Australia—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 17, 2004—
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), a leading developer of
Windows-based electronics design software, today announced the release
of Nexar and a new 2004 range of "LiveDesign-enabled" products. The
software products commencing shipment include two new product lines,
Nexar and CircuitStudio, and updated versions of Altium's existing
Protel and CAMtastic products. In addition to these software releases,
Altium is also launching the industry's first FPGA-based
LiveDesign-enabled development board, which Altium calls a NanoBoard
(nano-level breadboard). The NanoBoard (RRP US$995) will be included
free with Nexar and Protel software licenses for a limited time.
Nexar, the industry's first comprehensive, vendor-independent
solution for embedded system-level design on an FPGA platform,
introduces a new design methodology for digital systems that Altium
calls LiveDesign. LiveDesign is a real-time, interactive design and
development methodology that enables rapid implementation, testing and
debugging of digital designs through a combination of FPGA-targeted
virtual instruments that are incorporated at the schematic level, JTAG
communications technology, and the NanoBoard, which connects to the
engineer's PC. LiveDesign provides the engineer with a hands-on
hardware and software environment for on-the-fly development and
implementation of a real, physical circuit, including 'soft' processor
cores, which is directly accessible from their desktop. Nexar's
LiveDesign environment minimizes the need for simulation at the system
level and enables the development of complete embedded systems on an
FPGA without the need for HDL-based entry.
"Since we first introduced the concept of Nexar in November 2003,
feedback and demand for the product has been overwhelmingly positive.
Now that we are ready to ship Nexar, engineers will see that it
presents a breakthrough in system-level design on an FPGA platform and
allows processors to be easily brought inside the FPGA," says Nick
Martin, Joint CEO and Founder, Altium. "What's more, Nexar's
LiveDesign environment together with the NanoBoard provide a design
methodology that will be familiar to most engineers, making embedded
system design on an FPGA platform readily accessible to mainstream
engineers. We believe that now, with Nexar, every engineer can do
chip-level design."
Altium is also extending the LiveDesign methodology to its other
electronics design products. Based on Altium's Design Explorer (DXP)
technology integration platform, all 2004 products work together
seamlessly, enabling engineers to access the benefits of LiveDesign at
any stage of the design process - from front-end capture, board-level
design, and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), to systems development
on a programmable platform.
Altium believes that its new range of LiveDesign-enabled products
has the potential to redefine electronics design and development.
"LiveDesign enables real-time communication and interaction between
the designer and the design which means the commitment to final
hardware can be delayed until much later in the design cycle," says
Martin. "We believe this new methodology will have a profound impact
on the way products are designed in the future, with benefits to the
speed, design flow, quality and final product cost for the design
phase."
Beginning today, Altium will commence rolling out its new 2004
generation of LiveDesign-enabled tools, with others to be released
throughout the year. Along with Nexar 2004, the LiveDesign-enabled
products being released today are:
-- Protel 2004 - the complete board-level design system has been
enhanced to expand the traditional boundaries of board-level
design and to work natively with Nexar. Protel 2004 fully
supports the integration of PCB designs with FPGA projects by
integrating the NanoBoard and a set of FPGA-based virtual
instruments, enabling the user to perform rapid and
interactive implementation and debugging of FPGA-based
designs.
-- CircuitStudio 2004 - a new universal front-end design system
for board level and FPGA design, incorporate into Nexar and
Protel 2004. CircuitStudio features hierarchical schematic
capture, mixed-mode simulation, VHDL simulation, and
pre-layout signal integrity capabilities.
-- CAMtastic 2004 - the PCB CAM tool has been updated and
re-released on the new LiveDesign-enabled platform to provide
seamless integration with Altium's board-level and PCB design
tools.
-- NanoBoard NB1 - the industry's first FPGA-based,
LiveDesign-enabled development board.
Altium believes that its range of LiveDesign-enabled products is
key to supporting the ultimate convergence of hardware and software
design as they make the highly-complex set of hardware and software
design processes both usable and affordable for mainstream engineers.
With this next generation of LiveDesign-enabled electronics design
tools, Altium continues to make electronics design easier by providing
every engineer, designer and developer with easy access to the best
possible design tools.
Pricing and availability
New license list prices for Altium's 2004 range of products are as
follows:
-- Nexar 2004 US$7,995 (Free NanoBoard included for a limited
time)
-- Protel 2004 US$7,995 (Free NanoBoard included for a limited
time)
-- CircuitStudio 2004 US$1,995
-- CAMtastic 2004 US$2,995
-- NanoBoard NB1 US$995
A unified Nexar-Protel 2004 license, which includes a free
NanoBoard (for a limited time) and provides the entire
LiveDesign-enabled electronics design environment, is also available
for US$9,995.
Free software evaluation licenses are available for all products
and can be ordered via Altium's website or by contacting your local
Altium Sales and Support Center. To evaluate Nexar, customers can
purchase the LiveDesign-enabled development board - the NanoBoard -
for US$995 which provides users with the full LiveDesign experience.
All products announced in this press release - Nexar 2004, Protel
2004, CircuitStudio 2004, CAMtastic 2004 and the LiveDesign-enabled
NanoBoard - are now available for purchase and will commence shipping
today.
For more product information, including upgrade pricing, please
visit www.altium.com or contact your local Altium Sales and Support
Center.
About Altium Limited
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) is a global developer and supplier of
electronics design software for the Microsoft Windows environment.
Founded in 1985, Altium released the world's first Microsoft
Windows-based printed circuit board design tool in 1991 and continues
to provide advanced, easy-to-use and affordable software design tools
to electronics engineers, designers, and developers worldwide.
Altium's products offer tailored solutions covering a range of
hardware and software design processes including the well-known
Protel, P-CAD and TASKING brands. Altium is headquartered in Sydney,
Australia and has sales and support offices in Australia, the United
States, Japan and Europe. More information is available at
www.altium.com.
Altium, CAMtastic, CircuitStudio, Design Explorer, DXP,
LiveDesign, NanoBoard, NanoTalk, Nexar, nVisage, P-CAD, Protel, Situs,
TASKING, and Topological Autorouting and their respective logos are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Altium Limited or its
subsidiaries. All other registered or unregistered trademarks
referenced herein are the property of their respective owners, and no
trademark rights to the same are claimed.
Contact:
Edelman (for Altium USA)
Sarah Seifert, 650-429-2776
sarah.seifert@edelman.com
www.edelman.com
or
Altium Limited
Jessica Maxwell, +61 2 9975 7710
jessica.maxwell@altium.com.au
www.altium.com
