PR Newswire
Oct 25, 2005 08:00 ET

Altera Continues to Deliver FPGA Design Productivity With Release of Quartus II Software Version 5.1

Designers Can Start Their Stratix II GX Designs Now

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) today introduced version 5.1 of its Quartus(R) II design software. This latest version includes design support for the new Stratix(R) II GX FPGA family and completes the rollout of two key tools for increasing designer productivity -- the PowerPlay technology suite and the Quartus II incremental design flow.

Additional productivity enhancements in Quartus II software version 5.1 include immediate and full license access to popular premium MegaCore(R) intellectual property (IP) functions and the introduction of an external logic analyzer interface.

"In the past two years, the Quartus II worldwide commercial user base has grown more than any other PLD software tool -- by 70 percent in 2004 alone," said Chris Balough, director of software and Nios(R) marketing at Altera. "The ease-of-use and productivity advantages that Quartus II delivers, in concert with the growing adoption of our programmable logic solutions, is fueling this growth rate."

Productivity Features

Quartus II software version 5.1 includes features for enabling the highest productivity for programmable logic and structured ASIC designs. New features include:

-- Stratix II GX Device Support: Designers can begin designing now for
the entire Stratix II GX family using Quartus II software version
5.1. For more information about Altera's Stratix II GX FPGAs, see the
related press release, or visit www.altera.com/stratix2gx.
-- PowerPlay Technology Suite: With the completion of the PowerPlay
technology suite rollout, Quartus II software users now have the
industry's most advanced tools for programmable logic power analysis
and optimization. When compared to Quartus II software version 5.0,
the power optimization features delivered in version 5.1 reduce
dynamic power consumption by an average of 20 percent, and up to
60 percent in Altera's Stratix II devices. Additionally, version 5.1
includes a new power optimization adviser, which complements the area
and performance optimization advisers introduced in Quartus II
software version 4.1. These powerful aids provide users with
real-time, step-by-step guidance on how to optimize Quartus II
software usage for these design dimensions.
-- Incremental Design Flow: Incremental compilation enables designers to
segment designs into physical and logical partitions for synthesis
and fitting. With the incremental compilation bottom-up flow
introduced in version 5.1, individual engineers can independently
develop and optimize functions and then easily aggregate them into a
completed design. This feature complements the top-down block-based
flow introduced earlier this year, which allows a designer to
preserve the performance of specific blocks while other blocks are
undergoing optimization.
-- Popular IP Blocks: The Altera subscription program now includes full
licenses for some of its most popular MegaCore functions, helping
designers to reduce design time. Additionally, both Quartus II
software Web Edition and Subscription Edition now contain a set of
embedded peripherals previously licensed separately with the Nios II
embedded processor.
-- External Logic Analyzer Interface: In addition to using the
SignalTap(R) II embedded logic analyzer feature, Quartus II designers
can employ the new logic analyzer interface function to gain
visibility of internal FPGA nodes when utilizing a logic analyzer for
board-level debugging.

For more information about Quartus II software, visit www.altera.com/quartus2.

Pricing and Availability

Both the Subscription Edition and the Web Edition of Quartus II software version 5.1 will be available this week. The subscription edition will ship to all customers with an active software subscription. Altera's software subscription program simplifies the process of obtaining Altera(R) design software by consolidating software products and maintenance charges into one annual subscription payment. The annual subscription for the Altera design software is $2,000 for a node-locked PC license. Quartus II Web Edition software can be downloaded for free from www.altera.com/q2webedition. Quartus II design software supports major operating systems, including Windows XP; Windows 2000; Sun Solaris 8 and 9; Red Hat Linux 8.0, and Enterprise 3.0 WS; and HP-UX 11.0. New or existing customers may obtain a software subscription online at the Altera web site, www.altera.com, or from Altera distributors worldwide.

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 www.altera.com.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words that imply a future state or that imply that a particular future event or events will occur such as "will." Investors are cautioned that all forward- looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainty, including without limitation the risk that future performance is dependent on product development schedules, the design performance of software and other tools, as well as the company's and third parties' development technology and manufacture capabilities. Please refer to the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, copies of which are available from the company without charge.

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.

Source: Altera Corporation

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