Licensing Agreement Between Altera and ZMDI and the Addition of a Digital Power Design Team will Expand the Capabilities of Altera’s Highly Integrated Enpirion Power Products
SAN JOSE, Calif., August 3, 2015 – Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR) today announced the signing of a licensing agreement with ZMDI (Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden AG), a German-based analog and mixed signal semiconductor company. Altera will leverage ZMDI’s world-class digital power management technology to integrate advanced multi-mode digital control (MMDC) power capabilities into Enpirion® PowerSoC devices. A design team of digital power experts will focus on expanding the control, adaptability and power saving features of Enpirion PowerSoCs to further improve the power efficiency of Altera FPGAs and SoCs.
The ZMDI digital power technology complements Altera’s existing best-in-class power solutions, which integrate high-frequency power IC technology and advanced magnetics engineering into small form factor packages. Adding MMDC technology into Enpirion PowerSoCs will deliver greater control performance between Altera’s FPGAs and its power management ICs. MMDC-enabled Enpirion devices will be capable of supporting various new power modes thereby delivering up to a 30 percent reduction in FPGA power consumption (static and dynamic).
A team of experienced engineers focused on developing this leading-edge digital power technology will join Altera’s highly skilled research and development team focused on developing advanced power ICs. Dr. Anthony Kelly, formerly ZMDI’s chief system architect, will join Altera and lead the digital power design team.
Dr. Kelly stated, “Altera is an innovation engine and I could not be more excited about the possibilities when we combine advanced digital power controller technology with Altera’s Enpirion power products. Integrating our team of highly experienced power management engineers into Altera’s world-class research and development team will allow us to leverage each of our strengths and bring new levels of control and adaptability to FPGA-based systems.”
Mark Davidson, general manager of Altera’s power business unit, added, “Broadening Altera’s highly skilled power management design team with a group of proven digital power experts will enable us to deliver even greater value to our customers. The addition of digital control into our highly integrated power ICs will allow us to better address the power supply demands of high-end FPGAs while delivering increased system-level power savings.”
Enpirion PowerSoCs address the unique power requirements of FPGAs and SoC FPGAs by offering the highest efficiency and best signal integrity at the highest power density in the industry. ZMDI’s digital power technology allows the implementation of multi-objective, heterogeneous control modes while delivering best-in-class transient response in a programmable digital domain. Integrating advanced digital control technology into Enpirion PowerSoCs will enable Altera to create highly innovative power solutions that are optimized to meet the high-performance demands of Altera FPGAs and SoC FPGAs. To learn more about Altera’s power products, visit www.altera.com/power.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the anticipated benefits of incorporating digital control power into Altera’s PowerSoC devices that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty that can cause actual results to differ from those currently anticipated, as discussed in Altera’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, copies of which are posted on Altera’s website and are otherwise available from the company without charge.
About ZMDI
Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden AG (ZMDI) is a global supplier of sensing and digital power semiconductor solutions for automotive, industrial, medical, mobile sensing, information technology and consumer applications. These solutions enable our customers to create the most energy-efficient products in sensing, power management and lighting. See more at www.zmdi.com.
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, and complementary technologies, such as power solutions to provide high-value solutions to customers worldwide. Visit Altera at www.altera.com.
