Viosoft's Arriba! for Altera's Nios Embedded Processor; Viosoft's Arriba! Debug Tool Available in the Nios Development Kit.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2001

Embedded designers using the Nios(TM) soft processor core developed by Altera Corp. (Nasdaq:ALTR) now have access to Viosoft's Arriba!, an easy-to-use tool that quickly and effectively debugs embedded designs. Viosoft's Arriba! Embedded Edition optimized for Altera's Nios soft processor core provides embedded designers with a debugging solution tailored to shorten development times.

"Companies focused on the embedded market require rapid time-to-market solutions for development of their applications," said Karl Blum, director of business development at Viosoft. "Embedded developers need a competitive edge, which we provide with the Arriba! debug tools and Altera's flexible and configurable Nios processor to get their designs up and running quickly.

"Our embedded designers have a valuable and comprehensive software development solution with the Arriba! Embedded Edition," said Anna Chiang, director of marketing for the Excalibur business unit at Altera. "The robust development environment of Arriba! combined with our Nios embedded processor is a powerful combination that optimizes productivity when delivering a system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solution."

The Arriba! Embedded Edition incorporates a fully integrated Windows style interface and the capability of being able to edit, build, run, and debug applications directly on the remote Nios target environment. Hosted on Microsoft Windows 98/00/NT, the Arriba! Embedded Edition for Altera Nios provides developers with the rich and familiar presentation of a traditional desktop IDE in the Nios embedded environment. Arriba! Embedded Edition includes the following features:

-- Java-based IDE with optional host environments

-- Cross-platform "edit-build-run" functionality to remote target environments

-- Complete integration with core design

-- Fully integrated GNU compiler and toolchain

-- Fully integrated mixed-mode, source-level C/C++ debugger

Pricing and Availability

The Arriba! Embedded Edition Debug Tool for the Nios soft processor core is available today from Viosoft Corp. for $3,500 without basic trace and $5,000 with basic trace, along with complete product support.

The Nios Embedded Processor

Altera's Nios embedded processor is a soft core CPU optimized for programmable logic and system-on-a-programmable chip (SOPC) integration. It is a configurable, general-purpose RISC processor that can be combined with user logic and programmed into an Altera programmable logic device (PLD). The Nios CPU can be configured for a wide range of applications. A 16-bit Nios CPU core running a small program out of an on-chip ROM embedded system block (ESB) makes an effective sequence or controller, taking the place of a hard-coded state machine. A 32-bit Nios CPU core with external FLASH program storage and large external main memory is a powerful 32-bit embedded processor system.

About Viosoft Corp.

Viosoft Corp. develops, markets and licenses Java-based software development tools that benefit Windows, Solaris, UNIX and Linux developers in the enterprise, desktop and embedded markets. The Arriba! product family includes the Arriba! IDE, VioRunner cross-platform debugger and the tcl-based scripting language, VioScript. Possessing a high degree of integration ability, all Viosoft products, custom engineering services and developer support are designed to allow client's to recoup development costs and increase market opportunity. Headquartered in Campbell, Calif., Viosoft has engineering offices in Los Angeles and New Orleans.

Contact Viosoft Corp. at www.viosoft.com, via email: [e-mail] or telephone: [phone].

About Altera

Altera Corp., 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 Corp. in the U.S. and other countries. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holders.