Actel Extends 'Green' and Lead-Free Packaging Options to 100 Percent of Its Antifuse - and Flash-Based FPGA Product Families
Company Delivers on Roadmap; Strengthens Commitment Toward Achieving Compliance with Global Environmental Initiatives
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Delivering on its environmentally conscious roadmap, Actel Corporation today announced the availability of "green" and lead (Pb)-free packaging options for 100 percent of its antifuse- and flash-based field-programmable gate array (FPGA) product families. In addition to the company's standard packaging, Actel now provides green packaging alternatives, defined as free of both lead and halogen, for its entire portfolio of plastic leaded packages. Lead-free packaging is also now available for Actel's complete line of plastic ball-grid array (BGA) packages. With this announcement, Actel is compliant with the European Commission's Reduction of Hazardous Substance (ROHS) directive, which aims to eliminate several hazardous materials in electronic products by July of 2006. Furthermore, Actel has taken a crucial step toward achieving compliance with other environmental initiatives gaining momentum across the globe.
"With the expansion of environmentally friendly packaging options across 100 percent of Actel's FPGA product families, we not only deliver on our own environmental roadmap and business policy, but we are also aligning ourselves with several important environmental initiatives being implemented around the world," said Barry Marsh, vice president, product marketing at Actel. "Meeting ROHS compliance more than two years in advance of the July 2006 implementation deadline puts Actel well ahead of the game. As we look to address other directives, we will continue to work closely with our suppliers and customers in the communications, consumer, industrial and avionics industries to take an active leadership role in reducing the amount of harmful compounds in our devices."
The demand for devices free of lead and other harmful alloys is a result of the proactive efforts of regions like Europe and Japan that have proposed regulations to decrease the amount of these substances used in the manufacture of electronic products. The ROHS directive, for example, will restrict the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chormium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in all electronic products distributed within the European Union. The Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, also out of the European Union, establishes guidelines for the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of waste for electrical and electronic equipment. In addition, Japan, the first country to manufacture lead-free assemblies, currently requires all semiconductors manufactured in that country to be housed in lead-free packaging.
All of Actel's green and lead-free packages are guaranteed to provide the same benefits and features found in the company's standard packaging options, such as high security, low-power consumption and firm-error immunity. Actel has also taken the extra step to qualify its lead-free packages to operate at the same moisture-sensitivity level (MSL) as its standard packages, allowing designers to implement environmentally friendly alternatives in their designs without compromising performance or reliability.
Pricing and Availability
Green and lead-free packaging for the company's entire portfolio of antifuse- and flash-based FPGAs are available now. Both packaging alternatives are available at the same competitive prices as Actel's standard packaging options, which Actel will continue to offer for all of its device families. For further information about Actel's green and lead-free packaging solutions, please visit Actel's packaging resource center at: http://www.actel.com/products/rescenter/package/index.html .
About Actel
Actel Corporation is a supplier of innovative programmable logic solutions, including field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) based on antifuse and flash technologies, high-performance intellectual property (IP) cores, software development tools and design services, targeted for the high-speed communications, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) replacement and radiation-tolerant markets. Founded in 1985, Actel employs more than 500 people worldwide. The Company is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ACTL and is headquartered at 2061 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA, 94043-4655. Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835). Internet: http://www.actel.com/ .
NOTE: The Actel name and logo are trademarks of Actel Corporation. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.
CONTACT: Clive Jones of Actel Corporation, +1-650-318-4523, or
clive.jones@actel.com; or Patty Ladegaard of Porter Novelli, +1-408-369-1500,
or patty.ladegaard@porternovelli.com, for Actel Corporation
Web site: http://www.actel.com/
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