Altera Extends PCI Express Leadership With x8 Solution for Stratix II GX FPGAs

San Jose, Calif., November 2, 2005—Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) today extended the range of its PCI Express solutions with the release of a x8 PCI Express MegaCore^® function optimized for Stratix^® II GX FPGAs. The x8 PCI Express intellectual property (IP) core builds upon the company’s commitment to providing designers with PCI Express solutions that can be easily integrated into their designs. Customers can now turn to Altera for a wide range of programmable PCI Express solutions, including low-cost x1 applications up to high-performance systems using the x8 core in combination with the new Stratix II GX FPGA family.

“Altera’s PCI Express MegaCore function gives designers a flexible and easy-to-use solution for meeting their precise system requirements,” said Justin Cowling, Altera’s director of IP marketing. “As a growing number of designers transition from PCI to PCI Express, Altera is aggressively working to provide them with the solutions and comprehensive support they need to be successful in their transceiver-based designs.”

Altera leads the programmable logic industry with the introduction of PCI Express solutions for FPGAs. Altera was the first FPGA vendor to demonstrate a x4 PCI Express solution with Stratix GX devices, which later passed the PCI-SIG’s compliance workshop. Stratix GX FPGAs were also the first FPGAs to be listed on the PCI Express Integrators List.

System-Level Advantages

Altera is the first FPGA vendor to offer a x8 PCI Express solution: only the Stratix II GX architecture enables the PIPE interface in a x8 configuration to run at 250 MHz. Even in the medium speed grade, Stratix II GX FPGAs support 250-MHz performance for the x8 configuration, which is key to enabling industrial temperature support. Stratix II GX devices are also the only FPGAs with an integrated voltage regulator, clock multiplier and level translator. Competitive offerings deliver the same functions in a 4-chip solution.

About Altera’s PCI Express MegaCore Functions

The PCI Express MegaCore is delivered with an IP toolbench graphical user interface (GUI). Designers can use the toolbench GUI to configure the PCI Express MegaCore function, the corresponding testbench and user reference designs for x1, x4 or x8 endpoint links. The PCI Express function can target Stratix II GX or Stratix GX FPGAs with embedded transceivers, as well as Cyclone^TM II or Stratix II FPGAs or HardCopy^® II structured ASICs with external transceiver devices. For more information on Altera’s PCI Express solutions, visit www.altera.com/pciexpress.

About Stratix II GX FPGAs

The 90-nm Stratix II GX family is Altera’s third generation of FPGAs with embedded transceivers. The family is part of a complete programmable solution from Altera aimed at the growing number of applications and protocols requiring high-speed serial interconnect. Stratix II GX devices share the same groundbreaking architecture as Altera’s high-density Stratix II FPGAs and integrate up to 20 serializer/deserializer (SERDES)-based transceivers. For more information about Stratix II GX FPGAs, please visit www.altera.com/stratix2gx.

About Altera

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) 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 www.altera.com.

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