Altera Offers Faster Speed Grade for High-Density Stratix II FPGAs

Excellent Yield and Successful Production Qualification Results in Faster Speed Grade

San Jose, Calif., July 18, 2005—Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) today announced that it is offering a new, faster speed grade for the two largest members of the Stratix^® II family, the EP2S130 and EP2S180 devices. Altera added the new speed grade (-3) to the two devices following their successful production qualification and outstanding yield. The new speed grade enables a 500-MHz internal clock frequency, which is a 20 percent speed increase compared to the previous offerings, and extends Altera’s lead in offering customers the industry’s largest and fastest FPGAs.

“Altera is leading the way with 90-nm high-density FPGAs. While our competition struggles to get their high-density product out, the entire Stratix II family is in volume production now,” said David Greenfield, Altera’s senior director of marketing for high-density FPGA products. “The combination of a strong partnership with world-leading foundry TSMC and our patented redundancy technology enabled us to achieve exceptional yield on these large Stratix II devices. Customers needing timely delivery of new devices and best-in-class performance can rely on Altera.”

Availability

The new -3 speed grade for EP2S130 and EP2S180 FPGAs is available now. All Stratix II devices have been in production since June. In addition, industrial-temperature and lead-free Stratix II devices are now available.

For more information about the Stratix II family, please visit www.altera.com/stratix2.

About Altera

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) is the world’s pioneer in system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions. Combining programmable logic technology with software tools, intellectual property and technical services, Altera provides high-value programmable solutions to approximately 14,000 customers worldwide. More information is available at www.altera.com.

###

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 holder.