Actel Adds Radiation Tolerant and HiRel Devices to SX Product Line; Industry's Fastest FPGAs Now Targeted for Space and Military Markets.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 1998--Actel Corporation (Nasdaq:ACTL) today announced the addition of radiation-tolerant (RadTolerant) and military grade (HiRel) field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to its SX family.

RadTolerant devices are specifically designed for use in space applications, including commercial, military and civilian satellites and deep-space probes. HiRel devices are designed for use in all military and extreme temperature environments.

The Actel RadTolerant product line includes the 16,000-gate RT54SX16 and the 32,000-gate RT54SX32, the largest FPGA available with radiation tolerance. RadTolerant FPGAs provide a cost effective alternative to Radiation Hardened devices for applications that require high reliability.

One such application is the growing commercial satellite market, widely used in telecommunications for cellular phones, pagers and global positioning system (GPS) products and services. Preliminary testing of Actel's RadTolerant SX devices shows Total Dose (TD) radiation capability of up to 100K rads (Si) and Single Event Upset (SEU) to 1 x 10 to the -7th power upsets per bit-day.

These radiation levels will meet the requirements of most commercial and civilian satellite applications.

"The RT54SX16 and RT54SX32 further Actel's strong commitment to the space market. These RadTolerant devices provide high levels of radiation survivability, increased density and extremely fast performance," said Mike Sarpa, product marketing manager, Actel.

"We are continuing to develop our antifuse technology to provide space designers with FPGA devices that meet their speed, density and radiation requirements."

Actel is also introducing HiRel versions of the 16,000-gate A54SX16 and the 32,000-gate A54SX32. These devices are pin compatible with the RadTolerant devices, and are available pre-tested and certified for either the commercial or military temperature ranges, or with MIL-STD-883 qualification.

These devices are intended for use in all military and extreme temperature applications and, with 160 MHz maximum clock rates over the military temperature range, provide designers with the fastest HiRel FPGAs available today. These chips can also be used for prototyping of Actel's RadTolerant devices.

"The A54SX16 and A54SX32 provide the highest performance FPGA available today for the HiRel systems designer," said Sarpa. "The SX family is keeping pace with the more demanding performance, density and reliability specifications required for military systems." Additional SX Family Information

The RT54SX16 and RT54SX32 are manufactured at the Matsushita (MEC) fabrication facility in Japan, which has produced devices with better total dose capabilities than typical commercial fabrication facilities. The A54SX16 and A54SX32 are manufactured at the Chartered Semiconductor facility in Singapore, which also produces commercial versions of the SX family.

The SX FPGA family has been designed to provide customers with outstanding performance and full-pin compatibility within the SX family of commercial, HiRel and RadTolerant versions. These devices also provide mixed 5/3.3-volt support with 3.3-volt output drive and 5-volt tolerant inputs. Software Support

The RT54SX16 and RT54SX32 are supported by Actel's Designer Series, release R2-1998, available now. These development tools include improved ACTmap VHDL synthesis, DirectTime place and route, fully deterministic and controllable timing and easy design reuse.

Both devices are also supported by a variety of leading third-party synthesis and design entry software packages, including Synopsys, Synplicity, Exemplar, Cadence, Viewlogic, Mentor Graphics and OrCAD. Packaging, Pricing and Availability

The RT54SX16, RT54SX32, A54SX16 and A54SX32 will be available in two ceramic quad flat pack (CQFP) packages -- a 256-pin version and a 208-pin version. The 256-pin version provides the maximum I/O count, while the 208-pin version provides pin compatibility with the plastic quad flat pack (PQFP) 208-pin package for inexpensive prototyping using the 208-pin PQFP sockets.

Sample A54SX16 devices will be available in November, with the A54SX32 devices available in December. Both can be used to prototype the HiRel and RadTolerant products. Production devices on all four part types will be available in the first quarter of 1999.

Per piece pricing in 50-unit volume for MIL-STD-883 Class B devices in the 208-pin package is A54SX16 -- $1,040 and A54SX32 -- $1,872. In the same volume, the 208-pin package RadTolerant devices are RT54SX16 -- $1,530 and RT54SX32 -- $2,600. About Actel

Actel is dedicated to providing logic designers with the capability and confidence to successfully move up to higher complexity designs. The company is the world's leading supplier of antifuse-based field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and associated software development tools.

FPGAs are used by designers of communications, computer, medical, military/aerospace, industrial control, and other electronic systems to differentiate their products and get them to market faster.

Actel is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ACTL and is located at 955 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, California, 94086-4533. Telephone: [phone]. Internet: http://www.actel.com.

Note to Editors: The Actel name and logo are registered trademarks of Actel Corporation. All other trademarks and tradenames are the property of their respective owners