Altera, Afical, and Altasense Jointly Announce Industry's First HD WDR Video Surveillance Chipset

Providing customers with a single source for WDR surveillance camera solutions

Hong Kong, April 6, 2011 – Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR), Apical Ltd. (UK), and AltaSens, Inc. have once again demonstrated their technological leadership in HD WDR surveillance camera solutions by jointly announcing the industry's first HD WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) video surveillance chipset. The unique chipset integrates Altera's Cyclone® IV E FPGA, Apical's HD WDR full image signal processing (ISP) pipeline IP, and a security chip supporting AltaSens' 1080p60 A3372E3-4T image sensor. This unique solution simplifies access to Apical's IP and mitigates risk through a complete sensor processing solution.

The chipset simplifies the development of video surveillance camera systems by providing a single source for IP and FPGAs. Customers do not need to purchase IP from independent vendors or pay additional licensing fees, NRE costs, or royalties. Before purchasing the HD WDR video surveillance chipset, customers can download the evaluation IP, the Image Signal Processing Evaluation Design, from Altera's website and evaluate their systems by registering for an evaluation license online. After evaluation, customers can download the Image Signal Processing IP core license from Altera online and integrate the IP into their FPGA designs via Quartus II® software. This commercial yet programmable chipset shortens development time and adds flexibility to camera designs. By leveraging the flexibility of FPGAs, customers can differentiate their products from competitors' products by customizing devices through their own unique capabilities.

Apical's HD HDR Full Image Signal Pipeline IP is optimized to leverage the performance of Altera FPGAs. No other application-specific standard product (ASSP) or DSP platform provides a comprehensive pipeline capable of integrating WDR technology using 1080p60 sensors and data paths. FPGAs are the only devices capable of processing high-bandwidth data from 1080p and 720p HDR CMOS sensors (for example, Full HD consists of 2200x1125 pixels x 16+ bps (bits per pixel) x 60fps (frames per second), resulting in >2 Gbps bandwidth). Altera's Cyclone series FPGAs provide the necessary bandwidth and processing performance.

Brian Jentz, Director of Altera’s Industrial and Automotive Business Unit, stated, “Altera has always created the possibility to lead the market by responding to customer needs. Now, we are making it even simpler for customers to access solutions from a single vendor.” He added, “By selling our solutions as chipsets that provide IP downloadable from Altera’s website, we have removed the barriers to customers owning the technology.”

“By designing on Altera’s FPGAs, we were able to bring our latest technology to market as quickly as possible and optimize it to ensure maximum performance for specific applications.” Michael Tusch, CEO of Apical, said, “By designing on Altera’s FPGAs, we were able to bring our latest technology to market in the fastest way possible and optimize it to ensure maximum performance for specific applications.” “Through our collaboration with Altera, we were able to process 1080p60 WDR image sensor signals without compromising overall system performance,” he said. “Altera’s one-stop-shop approach is not only more convenient but also more cost-effective, and customers can also test the product before purchasing.”

Robert Baker, COO of Altasense, stated, “Altasense has been leading HD and WDR CMOS imaging technology since 2003, but this is the first time we are supporting our sensors in a chipset.” He added, “Affical has utilized Altera’s innovative FPGA technology to develop advanced image signal processors. This solution using Altasense sensors is