Accelerated Technology's Nucleus RTOS to Support Altera's Nios Soft Core Embedded Processor

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2001-- System developers designing with Altera Corporation's (Nasdaq:ALTR - news) Nios soft core embedded processor will be able to implement Accelerated Technology, Inc.'s (ATI) Nucleus real-time operating system (RTOS) into their designs, the two companies announced today. In an agreement between Altera and ATI, the Nucleus RTOS will support the Nios 2.0 soft core, the second version of the industry's first general-purpose RISC-based soft core embedded processor optimized for programmable logic.

The combination of the Nios soft core and the Nucleus RTOS simplifies design processes and improves time-to-market for designers building applications in the areas of low-volume consumer products, digital entertainment, networking and telecommunications, as well as leading edge applications employing Bluetooth.

"The adoption of programmable logic in embedded designs is shortening development cycles considerably and Altera is pioneering a new frontier in programmable logic with the Nios soft core embedded processor," said Neil Henderson, president of Accelerated Technology, Inc.

The Nios soft core, a general-purpose RISC CPU component of Altera's Excalibur(TM) embedded processor solutions, enables engineers to integrate systems on a single programmable logic device (PLD). The Nios 2.0 soft core, which is scheduled to be made available in late December, will provide system integration and customization advantages not available in other processors.

ATI's Nucleus PLUS is a flexible and scalable real-time kernel, and Nucleus NET is a full-featured TCP/IP protocol stack. Together, these compose the software portion of a system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) application using the Nios soft core. SOPC developers designing with the Nios soft core can create a custom microcontroller system by utilizing the SOPC Builder development tool included with the Excalibur Development Kit featuring the Nios embedded processor. Using a wizard, developers can select size or speed optimization, as well as an entire catalog of peripheral options at the push of a button.

"The Nios soft core's integration and configurability is perfectly matched by the robustness of ATI's Nucleus solution," said Anna Chiang, director of Marketing for Altera's Excalibur business unit. "Widespread industry support for the Nucleus RTOS and the availability of automated porting tools make ATI an obvious choice for both Altera and our customers."

About Nucleus

The Nucleus PLUS kernel provides efficient, high performance task management, inter-task communication, inter-task synchronization, memory management, and component query features. The kernel handles difficult issues such as priority inversion while minimizing the interrupt latency to a few microseconds.

Nucleus NET is a scalable embedded TCP/IP stack built from the ground up for the real-time embedded market. Critical portions of the stack have been optimized, resulting in a stack that is among the smallest and fastest on the market. Nucleus NET's basic protocols include: TCP, UDP, IP, ICMP, IGMP, ARP, RARP, DHCP, BOOTP, DNS.

About the Nios Soft Core Embedded Processor

Altera's Nios embedded processor is a soft core CPU optimized for programmable logic and SOPC integration. It is a configurable, general-purpose RISC processor that can be combined with user logic and programmed into an Altera PLD. The Nios CPU can be configured for a wide range of applications. A 16-bit Nios CPU core running a small program out of an on-chip ROM embedded system block (ESB) makes an effective sequence or controller, taking the place of a hard-coded state machine. A 32-bit Nios CPU core with external FLASH program storage and large external main memory is a powerful 32-bit embedded processor system. The Excalibur Nios embedded processor is royalty free when used in Altera PLDs.

Pricing & Availability

The Excalibur development kit, featuring the Nios 2.0 embedded processor solution will be available in late December 2001 for $995. Existing Nios customers will receive the upgrade automatically, enabling them to take advantage of these powerful new features at no additional cost. Nucleus embedded software is sold with source code and without royalty fees. Licenses for Nucleus PLUS start at $12,495. Licenses for Nucleus NET start at $14,995. Please contact ATI for additional information.

About Accelerated Technology, Inc.

Accelerated Technology, Inc. provides embedded systems developers with a focus on service, well-documented source code and industry leading non-royalty based Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) software. For more information on our high performance software products, please visit the Web site www.acceleratedtechnology.com or email us at info@acceleratedtechnology.com.

About Altera

Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company®, was founded in 1983 and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices (PLDs). Altera's CMOS-based PLDs are user-programmable semiconductor chips that enhance flexibility and reduce time-to-market for companies in the communications, computer peripheral, and industrial markets. By using high performance devices, software development tools, and sophisticated intellectual property cores, system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions can be created with embedded processors, memory, and other complex logic together on a single PLD. Altera common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera is available on the Internet at http://www.altera.com.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words that imply a future state such as "expected" or that imply that a particular future event or events will occur such as "will". Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainty, including without limitation the risk that future performance is dependent on product development schedules, resource allocation, the design performance of software and other tools, as well as the company's and third parties' development technology and manufacture capabilities. Please refer to the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, copies of which are available from the company without charge.

Note to Editors: 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 holders.

     Altera Corporation
     Bruce Fienberg, 408/544-6866
     bfienber@altera.com
              or
     Accelerated Technology, Inc.
     Jennifer Whiddon, 251/661-5770 ext. 2140
     jwhiddon@atinucleus.com