Vulcan ASIC Announces Moon^TM Java^TM Processor

ROYSTON, ENGLAND, May 10^th 2000: Vulcan ASIC Ltd today unveiled the Moon^TM 32 bit Java^TM processor core. This new synthesisable core is an implementation of Sun Microsystems’ Java Virtual MachineÔ , designed to run ROM-driven embedded system-on-chip (SOC) applications. The core has been optimised for area through a unique partitioning of Java bytecode for direct, microcoded and external execution allowing it to easily fit into CPLD devices for both production and prototyping solutions.
"Moon's small size and optimisation for CPLD architectures will open up a whole new class of Java solutions to designers," said Mark Goodson, Joint Managing Director, Vulcan ASIC. "Designers targeting CPLD will now be able to implement cost-effective, configurable Java solutions whilst ASIC users will be able to prototype and debug their embedded Java systems in record time."
The Moon processor core is a clean-room design implemented initially in VHDL featuring a stack-based, von Neumann architecture (shared instruction and data memory). The core features user configurable i/o bus width (from 8 to 32 bits) and makes extensive use of features such as pre-fetch to execute multiple instructions in one cycle. Vulcan now has fully functional silicon in Altera's Apex^TM 20K technology. Vulcan is a participant in Altera's ACAP (Altera Consulting Alliance Partner) and AMPP (Altera Megafunction Partner program and the two companies have worked closely together on the development.
" The optimised architecture of the Moon processor with the flexibility of a CPLD implementation is a combination that will open the floodgates on Java-based system-level integration," said Paul Hollingworth, Altera's European Marketing Director. "Vulcan's Moon processor, implemented on the APEX 20K device, will dramatically accelerate hardware/software development and debug flows and provides a prime example of System-on-a-Programmable-Chip design^TM."
 

About Vulcan ASIC Ltd
Vulcan ASIC was founded in April 1996 to address the fast growing market for ASIC consulting services and intellectual property integration. The company has provided expertise to many major systems developers to help get complex systems to market on time, including sourcing and integrating virtual components.
In 1998 Vulcan saw the opportunity for a compact yet powerful embedded processor that could be implemented in both CPLD and ASIC technology. Vulcan evaluated the market and chose to develop a core based on the Java^TM language feeling it offers a safer , easier to program, more compact and standardised solution than most RISC cores programmed in C/C++.
Vulcan ASIC Ltd is a privately held company with offices in Royston, England. For more information about Vulcan ASIC Ltd visit www.vulcanasic.com

About Altera Corporation.
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.

For more information please contact:

Mark Goodson Telephone +44 (0)1763 248163
Unit 6, The Maltings Mobile +44 (0)7774 168643
Green Drift Fax +44 (0)870 054 3662
Royston Email markg@vulcanasic.com
Herts Web www.vulcanasic.com
SG8 5DY
England