Altera Ships Industry's First Complete Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) Solution

San Jose, Calif., May 15, 2001 -- Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR) today announced the programmable logic industry's first complete Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) solution, enhancing the ability of network equipment manufactures to speed up deployment of virtual private networks (VPNs) in routers, remote access concentrators, layer 3 and 4 switches, firewalls and other embedded applications.

Altera completes the IPSec solution with the availability of two new cores - Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-1) and Message Digest Algorithm (MD5). When combined with already existing National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) certified data encryption standard (DES) and Triple-DES cores, the two new cores provide a complete system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solution for IPSec applications.

IPSec is a series of guidelines for the protection of Internet Protocol (IP) communications that specify ways for securing private information to be transmitted over public networks. Services supported by IPSec include confidentiality (encryption), authenticity (proof of sender), integrity (detection of data tampering), and replay protection (defense against unauthorized re-sending of data). Internet Key Exchange (IKE), the IPSec key management protocol, provides a series of steps that establishes keys for encrypting and decrypting information, defining a common language on which communications between two parties is based.

"The IPSec standard is quickly becoming the workhorse for interoperable network encryption and has gained acceptance among vendors of encryption gear throughout the world," said Justin Cowling, senior marketing manager of Altera's Intellectual Property Business Unit. "Altera's complete IPSec solution can achieve speeds well over OC-3 (155 Mbps) at an effective cost of $37 per unit in our APEX^TM 20K160E device."

Core Details

The MD5 algorithm conforms to RSA MD5 message digest algorithm that generates a 128-bit message digest or hash function of an arbitrary length input and is used for digital signature applications. The ordering code for this core is PLSM-MD5 and is priced at $5,995.

The SHA-1 function implements the secure hash algorithm as described in FIPS PUB 180-1 and generates a 160-bit message digest or hash function of an arbitrary length input. The ordering code for this core is PLSM-SHA1 and is priced at $5,995.

The DES core has been certified by NIST and supports several modes such as Electronic Codebook (ECB). The DES core can be instantiated three times to support 3DES. The ordering code for this core is PLSM-HC-DES and is priced at $3,995.

All these cores can be downloaded from Altera's IP Megastore web site at http://www.altera.com/ipmegastore. Detailed documentation on all these cores can be found on the IP Megastore web site.

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.