Ridgetop Group Joins Altera's AMPP Third-party IP Program

TUCSON, Ariz. -- February 14, 2011-- Ridgetop Group Inc., a leading designer of effective electronic diagnostic and prognostic solutions, is pleased to join Altera Corporation’s AMPP℠ intellectual property (IP) partnership program. This partnership allows Altera’s customers to easily locate and incorporate Ridgetop’s breakthrough Solder Joint Built-In Self-Test™ (SJ BIST™) BGA health monitoring technology into their electronic applications. Ridgetop’s prognostic solution includes a real-time solder ball grid array (BGA) health monitoring IP block tailored for all Altera field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

FPGAs offer flexibility for electronic designs such as mission-critical applications, and they are offered in a number of package types, including high-density BGA packages. These packages rely upon individual solder balls to attach the FPGA to a printed circuit board. For mission-critical applications, device uptime is vitally important and early detection of unexpected failure is paramount. SJ BIST provides a prognostic sensor for monitoring these solder ball joints, allowing programmers to integrate early warning systems for pending BGA pin failure into their high-reliability projects. Ridgetop’s IP uses a unique patented method that consists of an easily instantiated real-time monitoring technique for FPGAs used in harsh, high-vibration environments where early detection of problems is warranted. Ridgetop’s SJ BIST product has been rigorously tested by major U.S. government prime contractors and NASA.

Through the agreement with Altera, Ridgetop Group will add its validated SJ BIST IP module to Altera’s third-party IP partnership program’s library blocks (see http://www.altera.com/products/ip/ampp/ampp1.html). Altera FPGA customers can confidently license and download Ridgetop’s proven IP and use it to build real-time prognostic monitoring into their applications and processes.

According to Ridgetop Division Manager Phil Davies, “Ridgetop’s innovative solution will provide improved state-of-health and reliability feedback to users for those applications that are truly critical. We are excited to join in this partnership with Altera and add the benefits of self-diagnostic functions to their FPGA product line. This partnership will significantly improve our prognostics and condition-based maintenance (CBM) product market exposure and provide Altera’s customers with more options.”

“The addition of Ridgetop’s SJ BIST to our programming library opens up new opportunities for Altera,” said Sheri Andrew, senior manager IP marketing for Altera. “We are pleased to welcome Ridgetop to our AMPP program. Ridgetop has developed an easily inserted test methodology that functions well with our components. Our AMPP program offers customers advanced solutions and extends the range of applications for our leading-edge components. With the addition of real-time health monitoring, our customers can watch for intermittencies caused by package and board interface stresses, which offers a more comprehensive solution to our customers.”

About Ridgetop Group

Based in Tucson, Arizona, Ridgetop Group is the world leader in providing advanced electronic prognostics and health management (ePHM) solutions, semiconductor IP blocks, and built-in self-test (BIST) solutions for critical applications. The company maintains business divisions for advanced radiation-hardened microelectronics, and electronic prognostics & health management (PHM) solutions for critical electronic sensing and control applications. Founded in 2000, Ridgetop has built an impressive list of aerospace, automotive and medical system customers in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.RidgetopGroup.com or contact Phil Davies, Director, Sales and Marketing at 520-742-3300.