Altera and TI partner to deliver compliant programmable PCI Express solution.

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Altera and TI Partner to Deliver Compliant, Low-Cost Programmable PCI Express Solution

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 8 -- Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE:TXN) today announced a partnership to develop a PCI-SIG compliant, low-cost PCI Express solution using Altera's Cyclone(TM) II FPGAs and the latest generation TI x1 physical layer (PHY) chip. The partnership addresses the need for a programmable, low-cost, fully compliant reference design for embedded systems bridging from legacy interfaces. The companies will showcase the solution at booth 914 at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, August 23-25, 2005. "Altera is a strong partner for PCI Express technology. Our PCI-SIG-compliant PCI Express solution, which includes Altera's low-cost Cyclone II FPGA and TI's PHY technology, will significantly reduce cost and risk to our customers," said Dusty Russell, general manager for TI's interface business unit. "TI's PCI Express PHY technology is already being used in its PCI Express Bridge and PCI Express 1394a devices, both of which are certified as PCI Express compliant and are currently sampling." The TI and Altera solution allows designers to choose from different flexible TI PHY interfaces connecting to the Cyclone II FPGA. It also addresses emerging embedded PCI Express applications, including PC peripheral cards, video and image processing equipment and networking equipment. Customers use Cyclone II FPGAs for developing lower-cost high-volume products, such as DVD players, camcorders, displays, TV sets and other consumer electronic devices. TI recently announced its third-generation PCI Express PHY chip targeted at low-cost FPGAs in PC add-in cards, communications, test equipment, servers and other embedded system applications. "TI has a successful track record of delivering best-in-class transceiver technology that meets the performance, compliance and cost requirements for engineers using PCI Express," said Don Faria, Altera's senior vice president, business units. "This collaborative effort will reinforce Altera and TI leadership in our respective industries." For more information about Altera's Cyclone II FPGA family, please visit www.altera.com/cyclone2. More information about TI's PCI Express portfolio can be found at www.ti.com/pciexpressalterapr. Pricing and Availability Altera(R) Cyclone II FPGAs are available in volume today. The TI x1 PHY will sample in the fourth quarter of 2005 with full production devices available in the first quarter of 2006. The Altera and TI PCI Express solution with a Cyclone II EP2C20 device and TI x1 PHY (XIO1100) will be available from Altera, TI and authorized distributors. Pricing will be under $15 for volume orders of 500Ku. About Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative digital signal processing (DSP) and analog technologies to meet customers' real-world signal processing requirements. In addition to semiconductors, the company's businesses include Sensors and Controls, and Educational and Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries. More information is available at www.ti.com. About Altera Altera Corporation 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. NOTE: Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, the stylized Altera logo, specific device designations and all other words that are identified as trademarks and/or service marks are, unless noted otherwise, the trademarks and service marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holder. Web site: www.ti.com/ Web site: www.altera.com/