Altera and Mentor Graphics Agreement Fuels Next-Generation PLD Design.Business Editors and High-Tech Writers SAN JOSE San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. , Calif., and WILSONVILLE, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Feb. 23, 2000 Mentor Graphics (Nasdaq: MENT), the leading provider of electronic design automation (EDA (1) (Electronic Design Automation) Using the computer to design, lay out, verify and simulate the performance of electronic circuits on a chip or printed circuit board. ) solutions for the programmable logic device See PLD. (PLD (Programmable Logic Device) Refers to a variety of logic chips that are programmable at the customer's site, the customer being the vendor of the finished chip, not the end user. ) market, and Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR), a leading PLD manufacturer, today announced they have signed an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and agreement that gives Altera customers easy access to Mentor's world-class hardware description language (language) Hardware Description Language - (HDL) A kind of language used for the conceptual design of integrated circuits. Examples are VHDL and Verilog. (HDL (Hardware Description Language) A language used to describe the functions of an electronic circuit for documentation, simulation or logic synthesis (or all three). Although many proprietary HDLs have been developed, Verilog and VHDL are the major standards. ) simulation and synthesis tools for programmable logic design. Under the terms of the agreement, Mentor Graphics will supply Altera with OEM versions of its LeonardoSpectrum(TM) synthesis and ModelSim(TM) simulation tools for both PC and UNIX based systems. Altera will integrate these tools into its Quartus(TM) and MAX+PLUS(R) II development environments, and offer them to customers as part of its standard annual subscription agreement. "Altera's PLD technology advancements have been key to making this one of the fastest growing segments of the semiconductor industry," said Anne Wagner, vice president and general manager of Mentor Graphics HDL Design Division. "HDL design methodologies provide programmable designers with the tools they need to take full advantage of these powerful next-generation devices." "Our customers are quickly making the transition to sophisticated HDL-based methodologies, where they benefit greatly from the power, efficiency and ease-of-use afforded by tools like ModelSim and LeonardoSpectrum," added Erik Cleage, senior vice president of marketing of Altera Corporation. "Mentor is at the leading-edge of HDL design for the PLD market and this partnership is fundamental to helping customers make this critical transition quickly and effectively." The LeonardoSpectrum synthesis tool combines push-button (electronics) push-button - A roughly fingertip-sized plastic cover attached to a spring-loaded, normally-open switch, which, when pressed, closes the switch. Typical examples are the keys on a computer or calculator keyboard and mouse buttons. ease-of-use with powerful control and optimization features normally associated with workstation-based ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) Pronounced "a-sick." A chip that is custom designed for a specific application rather than a general-purpose chip such as a microprocessor. tools. The addition of Mentor's ModelSim simulator, meanwhile, brings VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) A hardware description language (HDL) used to design electronic systems at the component, board and system level. VHDL allows models to be developed at a very high level of abstraction. and Verilog-HDL simulation capabilities to Altera designers. ModelSim provides leading-edge simulation performance, behavioral simulation capability, test bench support and Tcl scripting functionality. Pricing and Availability These single-vendor versions of the synthesis and simulation tools will be fully integrated into Altera's Quartus and MAX+PLUS II development tool products creating a complete high-level design environment. The Mentor Graphics tools will be available in March 2000 with all new subscriptions and will be sent as an upgrade shipment to all existing customers on active subscription. At $2000 for a single-user, PC-based license, an annual subscription entitles a customer to receive the latest version of Altera's MAX+PLUS II and Quartus development tools, as well as all software updates for twelve months. New or existing customers may obtain a software subscription at the Programmable eStore on the Altera web site, http://www.altera.com or from Altera's worldwide distribution channel. Both Mentor tools provided in the Altera suite are fully compatible with all of Mentor's FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) A type of gate array that is programmed in the field rather than in a semiconductor fab. Containing up to hundreds of thousands of gates, there are a variety of FPGA architectures on the market. design tools, providing an easy upgrade path to FPGA Advantage(TM), the industry's first complete HDL-based design flow for the PLD market. About Mentor Graphics Mentor Graphics Corp. is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products and consulting services for the world's largest electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of $510 million and employs approximately 2,700 people worldwide. Company headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com. About Altera Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company(TM), 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 Nasdaq stock market The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies. under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera can be obtained on the Internet at http://www.altera.com. Note to Editors: All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners. |
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