Altera's PCI Express IP Core Passes PCI-SIG February Workshop Compliance Tests

First to Market With a Compliant FPGA Solution, Altera Extends Intellectual Property Offerings for PCI Express

San Jose, Calif., March 1, 2005©¤Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR), the first FPGA vendor to deliver a PCI-SIG-compliant PCI Express solution, announced today that its PCI Express MegaCore^® intellectual property (IP) function passed the PCI-SIG compliance tests at the February PCI-SIG Compliance Workshop in Milpitas, Calif. The PCI Express MegaCore joins PLDApplications¡¯ PCI Express IP core that Altera announced last year and further extends the choices customers have for implementing PCI Express-based systems.

¡°Based on their demonstrated PCI Express leadership, Altera¡¯s solution offered us the lowest-risk path for our first PCI Express implementation,¡± said Chuck Petersen, vice president of imaging solutions provider EPIX, Inc. ¡°Altera¡¯s comprehensive characterization of their Stratix^® GX transceivers, in addition to their focus on compliance testing, ensured interoperability within our design.¡±

The PCI Express IP core, combined with the flexibility and high-performance capabilities of the Stratix GX FPGA device family featuring integrated transceiver technology, provides customers with a low-risk integrated PCI Express solution. Altera¡¯s PCI-Express roadmap includes x1, x4, and x8 lane configuration support for its Stratix GX and upcoming Stratix II GX FPGA families with integrated transceivers. The roadmap also supports the Stratix and Cyclone^TM series of FPGAs, as well as the HardCopy^® series of structured ASICs for designs using external transceivers.

To date, Altera¡¯s PCI Express solutions have successfully passed compliance testing in three PCI-SIG compliance workshops:

• September 2004 ¨C Altera¡¯s Stratix GX FPGA family¡¯s transceivers passed compliance testing. The family is listed on the PCI-SIG Integrator¡¯s List.
  
• November 2004 ¨C PLDApplications¡¯ PCI Express IP Core coupled with its XpressBridge board featuring a Stratix GX FPGA successfully passed the complete suite of PCI-SIG compliance tests. The core is listed on the PCI-SIG Integrator¡¯s List.
  
• February 2005 ¨C Altera¡¯s PCI Express MegaCore function passed both stages of the PCI-SIG compliance tests, clearing the way for it to be added to the PCI-SIG Integrator¡¯s List. The compliance and interoperability tests were performed on the PCI Express XpressBridge prototyping board from PLDApplications, featuring a Stratix GX FPGA.

¡°As the first programmable logic vendor to offer a compliant PCI Express solution, Altera is committed to providing the industry¡¯s most complete programmable PCI Express offering,¡± said Justin Cowling, Altera¡¯s director of marketing for IP and technology marketing. ¡°The combination of our PCI Express IP core and our Stratix GX, Stratix, Cyclone and HardCopy families gives designers a flexible, low-risk solution for PCI Express-based applications.¡±

The PLDApplications PCI Express IP Core has been added to the PCI-SIG Integrator¡¯s List and has been available since November 2004. Altera¡¯s PCI Express MegaCore is currently sampling to customers and will be available to the general public in the second quarter of 2005. For more information on Altera¡¯s PCI Express solutions, visit www.altera.com/pciexpress.

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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