Altera Debuts Low-Cost ACE PLD Family for High-Volume Communications and Computing Applications - programmable logic devices - Product Announcement

Cambridge Telcom Report, Sept 27, 1999

Altera Corporation Monday announced a new programmable logic device (PLD) family, code-named ACE, aimed at high-volume applications in the communications and computing market segments. The mid-density family will range from 20,000 to approximately 150,000 gates (40,000 to 300,000 maximum system gates) and facilitates high-performance solutions with a typical system speed of 160-MHz. All devices in the ACE product family will be fully 64-bit, 66-MHz PCI-compliant. The ACE devices will offer the lowest cost-per-logic element of any Altera product family.

The high speed and low cost of the ACE family is ideal for high-volume, price-sensitive communications applications such as cable modems, xDSL modems, and low-cost switches, as well as computing applications like laser printers and PC peripherals. These are high-growth market segments; Dataquest contends that semiconductor consumption by xDSL modems, for instance, is growing at an annual rate of 118 percent (1997-2002).

"The ACE PLD family will add a new level of performance and power reduction," said Cliff Tong, Altera vice president of product marketing. "This family will meet communications designers' need for lower power and higher system performance to address ever-increasing bandwidth requirements, in devices that can be utilized in very high-volume applications."

Efficient Cost Structure The ACE family will be fabricated on a 0.18-micron, 1.8-V, six-layer metal SRAM process by Altera's manufacturing partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Hsinchu, Taiwan. The ACE family's leading-edge process was co-developed with TSMC. The technology is production released and exhibits better than expected defect densities, which should allow volume yields at product introduction. The family combines traditional logic cells with embedded memory blocks on the same device. As a result, ACE devices will support high-speed logic functions, as well as provide efficient memory implementation for dual-port RAM and FIFOs. In addition, the devices operate at 1.8-V, providing nearly 50 percent power savings as compared to existing 2.5-V products.

"Altera's support has been instrumental in getting the new 0.18-micron processes qualified and into production," said Mike Pawlik, TSMC vice president of worldwide marketing. "With the high performance and high yields that the 0.18-micron line has been showing, Altera's ACE family will provide the performance and density requirements for leading edge applications for some time to come."

Software Support

The ACE family will be supported by Altera's fourth-generation development environment, Quartus. The Quartus software was developed to support system-level designs, and features good-as-native links to industry-leading third-party tools from Exemplar Logic, Model Technology, Synopsys, Synplicity, Viewlogic, and other leading EDA vendors.

Altera's Quartus development environment is distributed at no extra cost to current subscribers of Altera's development tools program. Annual subscription rates for the program are $2,000 for a node-locked PC license, which includes Altera's Quartus and MAX PLUS II development environments and 12 months of upgrades and technical support. Quartus will launch the ACE PLD product family with software support in the first half of year 2000.

Availability, Packaging, and Pricing

The ACE family will be available in a wide range of packages, including Altera's FineLine BGA packaging, and will begin shipping in the first half of year 2000. Volume pricing is expected to begin below $10.00.

Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company, was founded in 1983 and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices and associated logic development software tools. Programmable logic devices are semiconductor chips that can be programmed on-site, using software tools that run on personal computers or engineering workstations. User benefits include ease of use, lower risk, and fast time-to-market. Altera's CMOS-based programmable logic devices address high-speed, high-density and low-power applications in the telecommunications, data communications, computer peripheral, and industrial markets. Altera common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera can be obtained on the Internet at http://www.altera.com.