Altera Offers Optimized Correlator IP Architecture for CDMA, W-CDMA, and 3G Wireless Basestations.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 27, 2001

Available immediately today from Altera Corporation (Nasdaq:ALTR) is its correlator megafunction and Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) reference design. Both specifically optimized for the CDMA and W-CDMA standards, this joint offering of intellectual property and a corresponding reference design allows engineers to simplify the design of wireless basestations and baseband modems, significantly reducing the time from concept to hardware implementation.

Both the correlator and the DSSS reference design can be used with the DSP development kit for APEX(TM) devices for easy prototyping and debugging of designs for the next generation of wireless basestations. Accompanying the DSP development kit for APEX(TM) devices, Altera's DSSS reference design illustrates the use of the Altera's correlator megafunction, FIR compiler and NCO compiler for various channelization and spreading/dispreading techniques. In addition, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has recently adopted DSSS as the channelization technique for 3G W-CDMA basestations.

One of the fundamental building blocks of wireless basestations, the correlator function is primarily used for spreading/despreading, random access channel (RACH) detection, and synchronization of data in baseband modem section of the wireless basestation. By optimizing the correlator and its corresponding reference design, Altera delivers significant cost savings by reducing the logic area compared with competing architectures. For example, using Altera's new patented architecture, a RACH detector consumes only 5,000 logic elements (LEs) in an APEX II device, which is at least 50 percent more efficient than competing solutions.

Systems designers can easily create custom functions with the interactive MegaWizard(R) Plug-In Manager for the correlator MegaCore(R) function. Using the MegaWizard Plug-In Manager, the designer can easily change system parameters such as block length, number of chips, and oversampling.

"Altera has developed the correlator function and the DSSS reference design as a result of growing customer requirements for implementing cost-efficient basestations," said Justin Cowling, director of IP marketing at Altera. "Altera continues to focus on customer needs in the wireless marketplace and today offers the most economical and lowest risk system solutions for the wireless infrastructure systems."

The correlator MegaCore function is one of the many IP cores that have an Avalon bus interface for microprocessor control using Altera's Excalibur(TM) embedded processor solutions -- the industry's only embedded processor based programmable logic device (PLD) family. Combining logic, memory, and a processor core, Altera's Excalibur embedded processor solutions provide engineers with the flexibility of integrating a complete system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solution.

Pricing and Availability

The correlator (ordering code: IP-CORRELATOR) function is optimized for the APEX II and Mercury(TM) device families. The core is listed at $8,995 for a perpetual license with 12 months of upgrades and technical support. The DSSS reference design is available at no cost. Both these products can be downloaded from the IP Megastore(TM) web site at http://www.altera.com/IPmegastore. Detailed documentation about these products can be found on the IP Megastore web site as well.

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. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holders.