Altera and TSMC Innovate Industry-first, UBM-free WLCSP Packaging Technology Platform for MAX 10 FPGA Products

Companies Extend 55nm Embedded Flash Collaboration with Unique Packaging Innovation

SAN JOSE, Calif. and HSINCHU, Taiwan, April 7, 2015 -- Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) and TSMC (TWSE: 2330, NYSE: TSM) today announced the two companies have produced an innovative, UBM-free (under-bump metallization-free) WLCSP (wafer-level chip scale package) technology that provides enhanced quality, reliability and integration for Altera's MAX® 10 FPGA products.

This approach results in an extremely thin package height of less than 0.5mm (including solder ball) that is ideal for applications where space is at a premium, such as sensor applications, small form-factor industrial equipment, and portable electronics. Other benefits include a better than 200 percent improvement in board-level reliability compared to standard WLCSP, while enabling a large die size envelope and high package I/O count, targeting applications such as wireless LAN (WLAN) and power management ICs (PMIC). Copper routing capability and inductor performance are also enhanced as a result of this breakthrough.

"Altera's work with TSMC has produced a very advanced and integrated packaging solution for MAX 10 devices," said Bill Mazotti, vice president of worldwide operations and engineering at Altera. "Leveraging this innovative technology to improve integration, quality and reliability makes MAX 10 FPGA products more versatile and useful for our customers."

Altera's MAX 10 FPGA products revolutionize non-volatile integration by delivering advanced processing capabilities in a single-chip, small-form-factor programmable logic device. Building upon the single-chip heritage of previous MAX device families, densities range from 2K – 50K logic elements (LEs), using either single or dual-core voltage supplies. MAX 10 FPGA devices are built on TSMC's 55nm embedded NOR flash technology that enables instant-on functionality.

Altera is currently sampling MAX 10 FPGA products with the new WLCSP packaging. There are 81-pin and 36-pin WLCSP packages available. An overview of both V81 and V36 can be found at www.altera.com/max10-product-table. Additional V81 technical details may be accessed at www.altera.com/max10-package.

"Our decades-long technology collaboration with Altera continues to produce dramatic results such as this UBM-free packaging innovation," said David Keller, executive vice president, TSMC North America. "Continuous improvement in all areas from design, to manufacturing, to packaging is our shared goal and commitment, and we look forward to many more years of working closely with Altera."

About Altera

Altera® programmable solutions enable designers of electronic systems to rapidly and cost effectively innovate, differentiate and win in their markets. Altera offers FPGA, SoC, CPLD products, and complementary technologies, such as power solutions, to provide high-value solutions to customers worldwide. www.altera.com.

About TSMC

TSMC is the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, providing the industry's leading process technology and the foundry segment's largest portfolio of process-proven libraries, IPs, design tools and reference flows. The Company's owned capacity in 2014 was 8.2 million 12-inch equivalent wafers, including capacity from three advanced 12-inch GIGAFAB™ facilities (Fab 12, Fab 14, and Fab 15), four eight-inch fabs (Fab 3, Fab 5, Fab 6 and Fab 8), one six-inch fab (Fab 2), as well as TSMC's wholly owned subsidiaries, WaferTech and TSMC China. TSMC is the first foundry to provide 20nm and 16nm production capabilities. TSMC's corporate headquarters are in Hsinchu, Taiwan. For more information about TSMC please visit http://www.tsmc.com.