Western Design Center Joins ispLeverCORE Connection Partners Program, Optimizes 8-bit 65xx Microprocessor IP Core for LatticeXP FPGA Devices

- Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: LSCC) today announced the availability of an 8-bit 65xx microprocessor intellectual property (IP) core from the Western Design Center (WDC), a new member of the ispLeverCORE™ Connection IP partners program. Through the program, Lattice and WDC will provide complete system solutions for their mutual customers who are integrating system-level IP with the most advanced FPGA silicon architectures. The Lattice Connection program allows customers to easily access and integrate approved third-party IP products into Lattice programmable devices.

“Lattice is focusing intently on the embedded systems market. In addition to providing our own 32-bit LatticeMico32™ and 8-bit LatticeMico8™ microprocessor cores, we are always looking for ways to deliver a wider choice of processing solutions to our customers,” said Stan Kopec, Lattice corporate vice president of marketing. “Through our partnership with WDC, we are able to jointly offer our customers an industry standard microprocessor that allows an easy transition from a hard, off-the-shelf microprocessor to a soft, more flexible microprocessor IP core optimized for our non-volatile LatticeXP™ FPGA family.”

“WDC is delighted to be a member of Lattice’s ispLeverCORE Connection community, and we’re confident that our combined technology solution will be beneficial not only to our installed base but also will expand our market reach,” said Bill Mensch, WDC’s Founder and Chairman. “Although WDC’s GDSII processor cores have been used in billions of shipped ASIC and standard processor forms over the last 25 years, the growing adoption of programmable logic devices, and especially Lattice’s FPGA technology, creates an excellent opportunity for the 65xx brand. We view our partnership with Lattice not only as a partnership of companies but also as a partnership of superior technologies. The 65xx brand enjoys a great worldwide reputation, and this partnership will enhance that reputation even further.”

The 65xx Microprocessor from Western Design Center
The W65C02RTL IP core from WDC is a general-purpose 8-bit microprocessor IP core. The core has been designed to emulate the W65C02S GDSII hard core, making the soft core ideal for use in FPGA prototyping systems that target ASIC designs that use the hard core, while remaining a compelling design choice for FPGA-only designs. The core is available with a serial interface for WDC’s Terbium Integrated Development Environment (TIDE) ANSI C compiler development tool suite. Full datasheets for this core are available on the Lattice website: http://www.latticesemi.com/products/intellectualproperty/wdccores

About LatticeXP FPGAs
Non-volatile LatticeXP FPGAs deliver the benefits of instant-on operation, excellent security and a single-chip implementation, and provide cost-effective alternatives to traditional SRAM-based FPGAs and their associated boot memories. The ispXP™ technology used in the LatticeXP devices combines SRAM and non-volatile Flash memory to deliver an FPGA that is both non-volatile and infinitely reconfigurable. The SRAM-based memory cells control the operation of the device logic and are loaded from the on-chip Flash memory in less than 1mS at power-up -- providing instant-on capability -- or on user command. Unlike SRAM-based FPGAs, the LatticeXP device does not require an external boot memory and so provides a single-chip solution with the associated benefits of reduced board area and simplified system manufacture. The absence of an external boot device also eliminates the need for an external bit-stream at boot up and the possibility of bitstream snooping, a major security concern with SRAM FPGAs. Security features prohibit bit-stream readback from the SRAM and Flash sections of the devices to further enhance security.

Pricing and Availability
This core is available now in netlist format for immediate purchase from WDC. Customers should contact WDC for pricing. WDC also offers a variety of additional packaging and licensing options to suit specific customer needs. By leveraging partner IP products, customers can quickly implement a wide variety of functions in Lattice programmable devices.

About Western Design Center
The Western Design Center, Inc. (WDC) was founded in 1978 by William (Bill) D. Mensch, Jr. WDC has licensed its 65xx brand microprocessor Intellectual Property (IP/Cores) to the electronics industry since 1981. WDC is considered a pioneer in the design and licensing of microprocessor technology Intellectual Property (IP) cores and inspired Acorn engineers to create the popular ARMxx series of microprocessors. GTE, Rockwell, MOS Technology, Synertek and NCR were some of WDC’s first licensees. In addition, WDC began selling 65xx brand microprocessor chips to Apple Computer in 1984, making it the first supplier of microprocessors as a fabless semiconductor company. For more information, visit http://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/

About Lattice Semiconductor
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation provides the industry’s broadest range of Programmable Logic Devices (PLD), including Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLD), Mixed-Signal Power Management and Clock Generation Devices, and industry-leading SERDES products.
Lattice continues to deliver “More of the Best” to its customers with comprehensive solutions for system design, including an unequaled portfolio of high-performance, non-volatile and low-cost FPGAs.
Lattice products are sold worldwide through an extensive network of independent sales representatives and distributors, primarily to OEM customers in communications, computing, industrial, consumer, automotive, medical and military end markets. For more information, visit http://www.latticesemi.com