Altera and Mentor Graphics Enable Easy Migration of ASIC Designs to Altera FPGAs

Support for Synopsys Design Constraint Format Allows Seamless Migration of Deep Submicron Design Constraints

Design Automation Conference, New Orleans, June 10, 2002 -- Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) and Mentor Graphics (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced that Altera's Quartus^® II design software and the Mentor Graphics^® Precision^™ Synthesis software will support the Synopsys Design Constraint (SDC) format that is widely used to define ASIC design constraints when using tools from multiple vendors. Upcoming releases of the Precision Synthesis and Quartus II design software will read and write the SDC format, saving designers valuable time otherwise lost to reentering and debugging constraints when moving among different vendor tool suites.

"ASIC designers who use the SDC format are now able to migrate easily to FPGAs without having to recreate their design constraints," said James Smith, director of EDA partnerships at Altera. "By working closely with Mentor to support the SDC format in the FPGA design flow, Altera has provided designers with enhanced interoperability between FPGA synthesis tools and our Quartus II design environment."

SDC support in both the Precision Synthesis and Quartus II design software significantly improves productivity as engineers can now reuse their design constraints. Altera's Quartus II design software will accept user constraints written in SDC and SDC constraints passed by synthesis tools such as Precision Synthesis. The Quartus II design software will also write out user constraints in the SDC format, allowing their reuse during subsequent design iterations.

"Through the intuitive interface found in Mentor's Precision Synthesis tool, designers can achieve excellent results when targeting Altera devices," said Tom Feist, group director of synthesis marketing, Mentor Graphics. "Precision's advanced interactive timing analysis accelerates time-to-productivity for both novice and experienced programmable logic designers. With support for SDC driving synthesis and the back-end design flow, combined with Precision's comprehensive VHDL and Verilog language support, ASIC designers can confidently migrate their designs to an Altera FPGA."

About the Quartus II Software
Altera's Quartus II software delivers superior designer productivity and supports system-level designs with features including LogicLock^™ block-based design methodology, the PowerFit^™ fitter technology, support for multi-million gate devices, and integration with third-party software. The Quartus II software supports hardware and embedded software workflows, including a C/C++ compiler and debugger in a fully integrated development environment to support Altera's Excalibur^™ devices. The Quartus II software supports major operating systems, including Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, Sun Solaris, HP-UX and now Red Hat Linux version 7.1.

For more information about the Quartus II software, please visit: http://www.altera.com/quartus2.

Pricing and Availability
Altera's Quartus II version 2.0 design software is now available to all customers on active subscription. New or existing customers may obtain a software subscription online on the Altera web site, http://www.altera.com, or from Altera distributors worldwide. SDC support will be announced in upcoming software releases.

Precision Synthesis is currently in beta release and will be available to all customers in Q3 2002. The tool runs on Windows NT, 98, 2000 and XP, Solaris and HP-UX platforms. For more information please call 1-800-632-3742 or visit http://www.mentor.com/synthesis/precision.

About Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics Corporation is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $600 million and employs approximately 3,500 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com.

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 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. Mentor Graphics is a registered trademark and Precision is a trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holder.
 

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