Altera's Structured ASIC Design Flow Now ITAR-Compliant for Military Applications

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- March 12 2007 --Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR) today announced that the U.S. Department of State has certified that the company's HardCopy(R) II structured ASIC design and manufacturing flow is compliant with International Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Compliance allows designers of U.S. military electronics systems to take advantage of a secure HardCopy II design flow for prototyping in an FPGA and then seamlessly migrating to a structured ASIC.

ITAR compliance is an integral part of the exclusive Altera(R) Enhanced COTS Initiative for addressing military and aerospace market-specific needs. Altera enhanced COTS solutions include device support for a wide range of temperature gradients, die business support, long-term obsolescence protection and a consistent supply chain to address military design challenges. To learn more about Altera's enhanced COTS offerings, click here 

"Military contractors are now requiring ITAR compliance from their suppliers," said Don Faria, Altera's senior vice president, business groups. "This secure design and manufacturing flow for HardCopy II structured ASICs provides a significant competitive advantage and is another example of how our enhanced COTS strategy is helping military suppliers meet government requirements."

ITAR regulates the import and export of U.S. defense-related equipment, services and information. Conformance to ITAR links Altera's HardCopy structured ASIC design flow with an export management system, technology control plan, a secure design room, server security and encrypted communications. It assures that only U.S. personnel working for U.S. companies are aware of any of the designs generated by Altera customers.

Secure Structured ASICs for Mil/Aero Applications

With Altera's productivity enhancing Quartus(R) II development software, customers can prototype and verify their designs using Stratix(R) II FPGAs. After testing, the design is encrypted and sent to Altera's secure ITAR design center in California. There, the design is reviewed and checked for conformance with HardCopy II structured ASIC manufacturing requirements. All work remains within the ITAR design center to maintain security throughout the design migration and review process. Altera then sends an encrypted report back to the customer for review before wafer fabrication and prototyping.

HardCopy II structured ASICs are well aligned for designs in military applications, providing high immunity to single event upsets (SEU), low device power and single-chip-live-at-power-up for use in avionics, missiles, modems, sensors, radios and unmanned vehicle applications. In addition, engineering teams can design HardCopy II structured ASICs for military temperature requirements(-55 degrees C to +125 degrees C). Specific development programs include avionics for the Joint Strike Fighter program (JSF) and high-altitude missiles, both requiring SEU immunity. By using structured ASICs, costs can also be significantly reduced for software defined radios (SDR) in high-volume commercial applications.

About Altera

Altera's programmable solutions enable system and semiconductor companies to rapidly and cost effectively innovate, differentiate and win in their markets. Find out more at http://www.altera.com.