As the industry's first DO-254/ED-80 certified soft core processor, Thales reduced development time by nearly two years.
Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) announced that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has approved safety-related avionics systems utilizing Altera's DO-254/ED-80 certified Nios® II embedded processors. Thales Avionics adopted a version of the Nios® II embedded processor, suitable for safety-related systems, into its Altera® HardCopy® ASIC, rather than developing a custom ASIC solution for use in its integrated electronic standby instruments (IESI). By adopting Altera's DO-254/ED-80 certified processors, Thales was able to significantly reduce overall system development time when developing its IESI equipment.
"When we were conceptualizing the IESI equipment product family, we determined that developing a custom ASIC that meets RTCA DO-254/Eurocae ED-80 standards would require too much time and money. By combining a version of the Nios II embedded processor suitable for safety-related systems with a HardCopy ASIC, we were able to shorten development time by nearly two years and achieve significant cost savings. This processor provides an attractive solution that meets our company's performance and system requirements while preventing system obsolescence." "We were able to confidently adopt the Nios II embedded processor into our company's systems as it was determined to be compliant with RTCA DO-254/Eurocae ED-80 Level B," he said.

Altera's HardCopy ASIC provides a low-cost, low-risk, low-power transition path for moving FPGA prototypes to mass production. By utilizing the HardCopy ASIC, Thales was able to improve single-event upset (SEU) tolerance as well as achieve pin-to-pin, feature, and timing compatibility with the FPGA prototype design.
The version of the Altera Nios II soft-core processor available for safety-related systems is the result of close collaboration between Thales, HCELL Engineering, and Altera since 2006. The Nios II embedded processor in an RTCA DO-254/Eurocae ED-80 compliant package provides avionics manufacturers with a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) microprocessor that can be used quickly and conveniently for safety-related avionics applications. By utilizing the Nios II embedded processor in these systems, manufacturers can not only comply with safety standards but also significantly save development time and costs while eliminating the risk of processor obsolescence.
"With today's announcement, we have been able to significantly lower the barriers for customers looking to incorporate soft-core processors into their safety-related avionics systems," said Amr El-Ashmawi, Senior Marketing Director of Altera's Military Business Unit. With EASA approving Thales' IESI equipment, Altera's DO-254-certified Nios II processor provides