Altera Announces True-LVDS -TM- Solution; Increases Data Transfer Rates to Industry-Leading 840 Mbps.

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2000

Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR) announced today that it supports 840 megabits per second (Mbps) low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) with its True-LVDS(TM) technology in the 0.18-micron APEX(TM) 20KE family of programmable logic devices (PLDs). The new True-LVDS capability offers a 35 percent performance improvement over the current LVDS I/O bandwidth of 622 Mbps. Altera's True-LVDS solution is made possible by the design of dedicated functionality into the APEX silicon. With further enhancements to the True-LVDS solution, this dedicated silicon functionality will allow Altera to increase LVDS speeds well above the one gigabit per second (Gbps) performance level. No other programmable logic vendor offers the capability to run LVDS at these speeds.

Altera's True-LVDS solution offers dramatically improved performance, low power consumption, low electro-magnetic interference (EMI) and high noise immunity with a high common mode range, all of which are required by many high-speed communications applications. The True-LVDS solution is also compliant to the TIA/EIA-644 and IEEE 1596.3 standards. The True-LVDS solution is made possible by an innovative design technology that consists of a dedicated serializer/deserializer, a robust phase-locked loop, true differential I/O drivers, and dedicated de-skew circuitry. Alternative LVDS implementations found in other PLDs use CMOS outputs that require external resistor networks, lack other dedicated support features, and are susceptible to transmission errors due to noise. As a result, these alternative implementations cannot achieve the high performance of Altera's True-LVDS solution.

These industry-leading advancements in LVDS circuitry continue to underscore the suitability of Altera's APEX 20KE devices for complex communications applications such as dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. Current DWDM systems require optical components to ensure high-quality transmission at 622 Mbps per channel. Altera offers a solution to reduce cost of ownership by utilizing an Altera Reed-Solomon forward error correction (FEC) intellectual property core to correct errors that are introduced when using lower-cost optical components. This intellectual property core adds the FEC data to the SONET OC-12 data, which increases the LVDS bandwidth requirement to 666 Mbps/channel. The APEX 20KE True LVDS solution easily supports this additional bandwidth requirement. Altera's True-LVDS solution provides the optimum price and highest performance for communications applications such as terabit routers, switch fabrics, and enterprise storage network equipment.

"Altera's True-LVDS solution, running at 840 Mbps, offers increased bandwidth that is needed in communications applications," said Steve Mensor, Altera director of components marketing. "By designing dedicated functionality into the silicon, Altera can meet higher speed requirements while maintaining high noise immunity to ensure quality transmissions. No other programmable logic vendor offers this capability."

About the APEX(TM) 20KE Family

Altera's APEX 20KE family consists of 10 devices spanning from 30,000 to 1.5 million gate densities (113,000 to 2.5 million maximum system gates). Altera's unique MultiCore(TM) architecture combines look-up table (LUT)-based logic and product-term logic with flexible embedded memory. The MultiCore architecture consists of large blocks called MegaLAB(TM) structures, each of which is connected via Altera's continuous FastTrack(R) interconnect routing structure. An embedded system block (ESB) within a MegaLAB structure contains 2,048 programmable bits that can be configured to support on-chip memory, including dual-port RAM and content-addressable memory (CAM).

About Altera

Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company(R), was founded in 1983 and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices and associated logic development software tools. Programmable logic devices are semiconductor chips that can be programmed on-site, using software tools that run on personal computers or engineering workstations. User benefits include ease of use, lower risk and fast time-to-market. Altera's CMOS-based programmable logic devices address high-speed, high-density and low-power applications in the telecommunications, data communications, computer peripheral and industrial markets. Altera common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera can be obtained on the Internet at http://www.altera.com.

Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, True-LVDS, APEX, MultiCore, MegaLAB, FastTrack, and specific device designations are trademarks and/or service marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.