Altera and Leading Power Management Vendors Provide Complete Power Solutions for Stratix II FPGAs

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR), in conjunction with Bellnix Co, Ltd., Linear Technology (NASDAQ: LLTC), National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM), Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN), and Volterra Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: VLTR) announced today the availability of a complete power management solution for customers using Altera(R) FPGAs. This collaboration, including the introduction of new PowerPlay technology in Quartus(R) II software version 4.2, helps customers manage power consumption while optimizing the performance of their Stratix(R) II designs.

Power Management Vendor Solutions

Customers designing with Stratix II FPGAs can leverage defined solutions utilizing voltage regulators, voltage supervisors, voltage references, and reference designs from leading power management vendors.

"Bellnix has developed power supply solutions to optimize the performance of Altera's leading-edge 90-nm Stratix II FPGAs," said Shotaro Suzuki, president of Bellnix Co, Ltd. "Using Bellnix's ultra-fast, high-efficiency DC-DC converter BSV-H series, customers can expect superior stability and power characteristics for Stratix II FPGAs." More information on Bellnix's power management offerings can be found at http://www.bellnix.com/.

According to Todd Reimund, Linear's director of marketing, "Linear Technology offers compact solutions for powering all Altera FPGAs and CPLDs. Our solutions optimize Stratix II performance and simplify the power design by providing excellent transient response and precision low voltage regulation." Learn more about Linear's offerings at http://www.linear.com/designtools/Altera.jsp.

"National Semiconductor has developed best-in-class power management products and design tools to address the challenge of moving to 90-nm devices," said Jeff Bessa, Americas marketing director for National Semiconductor. "We have worked with Altera to build reference designs, develop design tools and co-define new power management products that are optimized for use with Altera's newest FPGAs. This allows our customers to implement complete power solutions with minimal effort." More information about National Semiconductor's offerings for Altera FPGAs can be found at http://www.national.com/see/alterafpga.

"TI leverages its comprehensive set of high-performance power management products and technical support to address every power management design requirement of tomorrow's FPGA-based applications," said Greg Waterfall, director of product development for TI's power management products. "Customers using our library of reference designs can benefit from simplified power design when implementing Altera's Stratix II FPGAs." More information on TI offerings can be found at http://www.ti.com/alterafpga.

William Numann, vice president of marketing for Volterra Semiconductor Corp. said, "Volterra is pleased to offer a series of high frequency, integrated step-down switching regulators that are ideal for powering Altera's Stratix II FPGAs. Our ultra-small, highly efficient reference designs were chosen by Altera to provide their customers with an off-the-shelf solution that meets the challenging requirements of powering the Stratix II devices." Learn more about Volterra's offerings for Altera FPGAs at http://www.volterra.com/Altera/.

Altera Power Management Solutions

Altera took many steps in the development of its 90-nm Stratix II and Cyclone(TM) II devices to control power consumption while delivering increased performance. Stratix II devices are the first high-performance, high-density FPGAs to utilize the combination of low-k dielectric material and a new, more efficient logic structure, called adaptive logic modules (ALMs), to obtain maximum performance while minimizing power consumption. Additionally, Altera optimized voltage thresholds, changed the length of transistors to maximize performance of critical paths, and minimized static power of non-critical paths within the device.

"Customers require methodologies for optimizing design performance while managing static and dynamic power consumption at 90-nm," said David Greenfield, Altera's senior director of product marketing for high-density FPGAs. "Working with industry-leading vendors allows us to provide customers with the tools they need to manage power consumption and realize performance benefits when designing with Stratix II devices, the industry's fastest FPGAs."

About Stratix II Devices

Stratix II devices provide more than double the logic density and are on average 39 percent faster, and up to 200 percent faster in certain cases, than the nearest competitive FPGA devices. Its innovative 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/.

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. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holder.

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

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

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