SOPC Builder Enhancements Boost Productivity for Altera Quartus II Software Users

San Jose, Calif., May 10, 2005—Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) today announced new capabilities in its SOPC Builder tool to further boost the productivity of FPGA designers. With new features and SOPC Builder Ready intellectual property (IP) cores, designers can now create systems in minutes using a PCI interface and DDR/DDR2 external memories. They can also assign pins and enhance design integration and reuse. SOPC Builder, a system generation tool, is integrated within all versions of the Quartus^® II software.

“SOPC Builder is one of Altera’s most important productivity tools, and is a critical element in offering FPGA designers the lowest-risk and easiest-to-use design software,” said Chris Balough, Altera’s director of software and Nios^® marketing. “SOPC Builder’s proven effectiveness in speeding system development allows Altera’s customers to work faster and smarter and to compete in their markets more effectively.”

New SOPC Builder Productivity Features

The new SOPC Builder features include the following productivity enhancements:

• PCI support enhancements – Using Altera’s PCI Compiler MegaCore^® version 4.0.0 with SOPC Builder, designers can easily create FPGA peripherals or co-processing systems for any microprocessor or ASSP device with a PCI interface.
• DDR and DDR2 interface additions – Integration of Altera’s DDR/DDR2 MegaCore with the SOPC Builder tool allows DDR and DDR2 memory interfaces to be added to any SOPC Builder system in just minutes.
• Board pin assignment support – A new user interface enables designers to more easily assign SOPC Builder signals directly to targeted FPGA pins.
• Custom logic integration enhancements – The SOPC Builder component wizard enables the conversion of custom logic into reusable components. The component wizard now displays customized waveforms of the read and write interface to improve ease of use.

For more information about SOPC Builder, visit www.altera.com/sopcbuilder. For more information about Quartus II software, visit www.altera.com/quartus2. The Quartus II Web Edition software can be downloaded for free from www.altera.com/q2webedition.

About Altera

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) is the world’s pioneer in system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions. Combining programmable logic technology with software tools, intellectual property, and technical services, Altera provides high-value programmable solutions to approximately 14,000 customers worldwide. More information is available at www.altera.com.

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