Low-cost FPGAs top 5 million shipment mark

Altera Corp has now shipped more than 5 million low-cost Cyclone FPGAs since the device family was introduced just 21 months ago.

Altera Corp has now shipped more than 5 million low-cost Cyclone FPGAs since the device family was introduced just 21 months ago.

Reaching this milestone faster than any other Altera FPGA family, Cyclone devices have proven to be a compelling alternative to ASICs and ASSPs for designers of price-sensitive, high-volume applications.

In the hands of over 3800 customers worldwide, Cyclone devices have expanded Altera's presence in applications such as video displays, cameras, telematics, home networking, and office automation equipment.

"We have been Xilinx users, but for our most recent home theatre processor products, we chose Altera's Cyclone FPGAs for their clear price/performance advantage", said Patrick Harkin, Vice President of Development, Lumagen.

"Altera Cyclone devices offer performance, flexibility, low cost, and reliable availability in high-volume quantities, enabling Digital V6 to pack industry-leading video compression and other capabilities into our remote network management products", said Jimmy Lee, President of Digital V6 Corp.

"As a result, our Kaveman 16 product hit the market as the undisputed price/performance leader in its segment, and received the Best of Interop award in the network servers and peripherals category".

Built from the ground up for low cost, Altera's Cyclone FPGA family set the standard for low-cost FPGAs when it was introduced less than two years ago.

The company engaged with more than 100 customers globally during the product definition process to determine the most desired features and price points.

The information gathered has benefited Altera's customers, who now have a risk-free alternative to ASICs and ASSPs.

"With the highest performance and lowest cost structure, Cyclone FPGAs hit a sweet spot in the marketplace", stated Steve Mensor, Altera's Senior Director of Product Marketing.

"Cyclone FPGAs have out-shipped the nearest competitive FPGA family, Spartan-3, by five times, and have three times the number of customers".

Based on the trailblazing success of Cyclone FPGAs, Altera has already developed its successor family, Cyclone II FPGAs.

Supported now in Quartus II development software, the Cyclone II family will begin shipping in early 2005 and will extend the Cyclone advantage to higher densities and even lower cost points.

Combined with a broad portfolio of design-ready intellectual property (IP) cores, Altera's Quartus II design software delivers the lowest development costs for a broad range of Altera FPGAs while giving designers unmatched levels of performance and ease of use.

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