Advanced Knowledge Associates Announces New PRISM405 Based on Low-Power, High Functionality Altera FPGA.

Optimized for Low Power; High-Speed Connectivity

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Previewing at Embedded Systems Conference, Booth 215, McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, CA - April 14-18

Advanced Knowledge Associates (AKA) - the leader in miniaturized, reconfigurable, fully self-contained and high-performance system-on-module technology - today announced its latest PRISM (Prepackaged Reconfigurable Integrated System-on-Module) at the Embedded Systems Conference, in San Jose, CA. The high-end, low power PRISM405 is the first available product to be based on an Altera FPGA and features extensive high-speed connectivity capabilities including integrated PCIe. The PRISM405 boasts a high level of hardware and software integration and flexibility, employing a high-performance Freescale PowerPC processor coupled with the low-power, high-density, Altera Cyclone III FPGA.

Mastered by the MPC8544/E processor, PRISM405 delivers best-in-class performance with speeds up to 1.067 GHz and features double precision floating point and integrated security engines. The PRISM405 provides a powerful complement of memory together with extensive high-speed connectivity options including Gigabit Ethernet, serial RapidIO[TM] interconnect technology and PCI Express for control, communication and data storage purposes.

AKA's latest PRISM extends the performance and reach of the microcontroller via a high-performance proprietary interface that bridges to the Altera Avalon switch fabric in the Cyclone III FPGA facilitating a true, dual processor system capable of implementing nearly any desired expansion interface. By arbitrating transactions in a standard Altera Nios II embedded processor system within the FPGA, a host of custom peripherals can be added to the MPC8544/E embedded processor with ease and rapidity.

"AKA's innovative PRISM405 taps into the full potential of the Cyclone III FPGAs which enable high levels of integration while meeting stringent cost and power budgets," commented Luanne Schirrmeister, director of marketing, low-cost products at Altera Corporation.

The PRISM405 architecture is modular in nature, allowing for ease of integration of custom user logic and or custom peripheral bridging functions. The PRISM405 also comes fully equipped with on board programmable clocks, voltage regulators, and power monitors, removing these critical and often difficult hardware elements from the designer's plate, accelerating the design cycle while facilitating the absolute fastest time to market.

"We are pleased to announce our first PRISM offering that harnesses the power of both an Altera FPGA and a Freescale PowerPC," comments Guy Marom, AKA's CEO. "By tightly coupling Altera's Cyclone III FPGA with Freescale's PowerPC AKA provides a fully programmable and reconfigurable platform that allows easy implementation of virtually any industry standard or proprietary interface."

About Advanced Knowledge Associates:

Advanced Knowledge Associates (AKA) is a major supplier of Prepackaged Reconfigurable Integrated Systems-on- Modules (PRISMs) that enable and accelerate advanced embedded system design. AKA's miniaturized and high-performance PRISMs ensure that customers get to market as quickly, easily, and cost-effectively as possible. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and provides design-to-manufacturing services for companies across a range of markets including Mil/Aero, Defense, Medical, Industrial and Communications.

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