Actel Announces 133 MHz PCI-X Intellectual Property Core for Axcelerator FPGAs

Company Leverages Seven-Year Legacy of PCI-Based Solutions; Expands Portfolio of IP Blocks Targeted for High-Speed Axcelerator Devices

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 12, 2003 - Expanding its portfolio of intellectual property (IP) building blocks optimized for the company's high-speed Axcelerator field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), Actel Corporation (Nasdaq: ACTL) today announced availability of a new 133 MHz PCI-X IP core. Developed, verified and supported by Actel, the new CorePCIX DirectCore solution speeds time to market and reduces design and system costs, making it suitable for high-performance applications such as servers and workstations, as well as network and test equipment. The company also introduced a CorePCIX evaluation board to help simplify design integration and test.

"We have leveraged our extensive experience with PCI-based IP solutions to develop a PCI-X core optimized for our nonvolatile, single-chip Axcelerator devices," stated Yankin Tanurhan, senior director of Actel's Applications and IP Solutions Group. "Customers looking for a lower cost PCI-X communications interface alternative have expressed significant interest in the 133 MHz CorePCIX solution to complement their Axcelerator designs. With the availability of the CorePCIX IP block and the evaluation board, designers have access to a complete high-speed communications solution that satisfies their performance requirements at a competitive price."

The CorePCIX core is available as a PCIX-only solution for embedded applications or as a PCI-X Specification version 1.0a compliant solution for add-in card applications. The solution offers 32-bit or 64-bit modes, master and target functionality, 64-bit transfers and support for all PCI-X/PCI burst transaction commands. The core is backwards compatible with all current PCI configurations. The simple local bus interface enables additional logic to be integrated while the core's Web-based configuration interface permits personalization and reduction of unused logic.

The CorePCIX Evaluation Board
Since interchangeability is essential for this application, the core has been thoroughly verified in simulation and on a CorePCIX evaluation board. Programmed with CorePCIX functionality, the evaluation board is a PCI-X add-in card, allowing the PC or server to access the Axcelerator FPGA and memory via the PCI-X slot. The evaluation board includes an Actel AX1000 FPGA, a 128 Mbyte DIMM, SDRAM memory and a serial port.

Pricing and Availability
The CorePCIX solution for use with Actel's Axcelerator FPGAs is available today in netlist and RTL formats and can be purchased directly from Actel. A free evaluation version is also available. The list price for a single-use netlist is $18,000. The CorePCIX-based evaluation board is priced at $1,500 and is expected to be available in July 2003. A prototype of the board is currently available. Product documentation can be downloaded from the Actel Web site at http://www.actel.com/products/ip/index.html.

Actel DirectCore and CompanionCore Solutions
Actel offers its own system-level IP solutions, called DirectCores, specifically designed and optimized for use with Actel devices. The company also offers third-party CompanionCore IP blocks, which have been tested and verified in Actel FPGAs. Covering applications ranging from embedded systems to consumer and communications, functions include bus interfaces, communication controllers and interfaces, processors and peripherals, encryption and memory controllers as well as multimedia and error correction.

Actel DirectCores and CompanionCore products offer seamless implementation through Actel's suite of internal and third-party EDA development tools, documentation, and quality service and support, thereby streamlining the design process, enabling faster time-to-market and minimizing design costs and risks. For more information on the CompanionCore Alliance program, DirectCores or CompanionCores, visit the IP section on the Actel Web site at http://www.actel.com/products/ip/index.html.

About Actel
Actel Corporation is a supplier of innovative programmable logic solutions, including field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) based on antifuse and flash technologies, high-performance intellectual property (IP) cores, software development tools and design services, targeted for the high-speed communications, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) replacement and radiation-tolerant markets. Founded in 1985, Actel employs approximately 500 people worldwide. The Company is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ACTL and is headquartered at 955 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, Calif., 94086-4533. Telephone: 888-99-ACTEL (992-2835). Internet: http://www.actel.com.

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