Altera Advances Into DSP Market.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 2001

Altera Corporation (Nasdaq:ALTR) today opened the doors for digital signal processing (DSP) engineers to more easily adopt programmable logic in a wide range of high-performance DSP applications. Altera's new offering includes tools, intellectual property (IP), and comprehensive developer's kits, allowing engineers to leverage the flexibility, performance and cost advantages of system-on-a-programmable-chip solutions for signal processing applications.

Altera's new approach to DSP design for programmable logic devices (PLDs) provides an interface to the DSP industry standard design tool, an extensive catalog of IP, a developer's kit, and an evaluation mechanism that allows engineers to test IP in hardware before purchasing it.

DSP designers have historically used DSP processors to implement their designs. However, with performance and cost advantages now offered by PLDs, more designers are relying on the flexibility of programmable logic instead of DSP processors. Altera's new approach to DSP design gives engineers a comprehensive set of tools and resources that make the design of PLDs similar to that of DSP processors.

"Altera is on the right path," said Will Strauss, DSP industry analyst and president of Forward Concepts. "By developing a design methodology similar to what DSP engineers currently use for traditional DSP processors, Altera is helping DSP engineers easily transfer their design skills to PLDs."

"In response to the increasing complexity of DSP designs, Altera is helping DSP engineers reduce system costs and board size with an unequaled catalog of over 60 parameterizable DSP IP cores," said Justin Cowling, director of IP marketing at Altera. "Altera's simple and intuitive development flow coupled with these IP resources provides DSP engineers with the means to get their designs to market as quickly as possible."

To help provide DSP designers with a seamless design flow for the adoption of programmable logic, Altera partnered with The MathWorks -- a leading provider of software for signal processing and communications applications. The first product to result from this partnership is the DSP Builder interface -- an interface between The MathWorks' popular Simulink(R) System-Level Design tool and Altera's Quartus(R) II development software.

Altera's commitment to providing an uncomplicated design methodology, innovative programmable logic devices and an abundance of proven IP cores results in shorter design cycles, higher performance products and lower overall costs. Details of the products, services and partnerships referred to in this announcement may be found at http://www.altera.com/corporate/press_box/psb-index.html.

About Altera

Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company(R), was founded in 1983 and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices (PLDs). Altera's CMOS-based PLDs are user-programmable semiconductor chips that enhance flexibility and reduce time-to-market for companies in the communications, computer peripheral, and industrial markets. By using high performance devices, software development tools, and sophisticated intellectual property cores, system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions can be created with embedded processors, memory, and other complex logic together on a single PLD. Altera common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera is available on the Internet at http://www.altera.com.

Note to Editors: 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. Simulink is a registered trademark of The MathWorks. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holders.