Providing low-risk solutions for 40GbE/100GbE system implementation for equipment manufacturers

Hong Kong, January 5, 2011 — Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) announced that it has successfully passed the Ethernet Alliance’s first Higher Speed Ethernet (HSE) interoperability test for products designed to support 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) systems. Passing this interoperability test acknowledges the performance of Altera’s advanced transceiver technology used in the Stratix® IV GT FPGA and confirms to manufacturers that it is a low-risk solution for implementing 40GbE/100GbE systems.

Altera was the only FPGA company to participate in the Ethernet Alliance's first 100GbE interoperability test event, held in Santa Clara, California, in September 2010. This event tested the interoperability of test equipment, switches, routers, NICs, optical transceiver modules, and cables used in 100GbE systems. Altera tested interoperability with major test equipment, optical module, and cable manufacturers using its 100G development kit, the Stratix IV GT FPGA Edition. These tests examined the interoperability of the Stratix IV GT FPGA with Ixia's test equipment, CFP optical modules from Finisar, Opnext, and Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, and optical cable assemblies from Leviton, Panduit, and Siemon. You can view a white paper with detailed information on the results of the Higher Speed Ethernet Plugfest on the Ethernet Alliance website www.ethernetalliance.org .

The Stratix IV GT FPGA provides a low-power hardware verification solution compliant with the IEEE 802.3ba-2010 standard. This FPGA is a single-chip solution with integrated functionality, including 100GbE MAC and PCS IP (intellectual property) and standard XLAUI and CAUI compatible interfaces. 100GbE designs can be thoroughly evaluated using the Stratix IV GT Edition 100G development kit.

"Luanne Schirrmeister, Senior Director of Device Product Marketing at Altera, said, 'The transition to 40GbE and 100GbE systems for next-generation high-speed, high-performance computing applications and technologies is accelerating. Altera's Stratix IV GT FPGA for high-bandwidth systems provides a high-performance, low-risk single-chip solution that equipment manufacturers can implement with complete confidence.'"

The Stratix IV GT FPGA is designed for use in the latest generation of 40G and 100G applications in telecommunications systems, high-end test equipment, and military communications systems. By integrating up to 48 transceivers (24 of which operate at up to 11.3Gbps), the Stratix IV GT FPGA enables high-end applications