For Release: December 17, 2001
Altera SOPC Solution Reduces Cost, Adds Flexibility to Marconi Broadband Switch
Marconi's ASX-4000 ATM Switch Benefits from Altera APEX™
PLDs and PCI IP
San Jose, Calif., December 17, 2001 — Altera Corporation's (Nasdaq:
ALTR) system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions provided Marconi (Nasdaq:
MONI) with a competitive edge, enabling them to add new capabilities and reduce
costs for their ASX-4000, a multi-service, high-capacity packet switch, the
company announced today. Marconi, a global provider of innovative communications
solutions, offers the ASX-4000 as part of its overall strategy to transform
communications networks. The ASX-4000 enables service providers to redefine
service differentiation for new predictable IP services, as well as simultaneously
support existing multi-service offerings on one versatile platform. In addition,
it allows providers to build networks that scale in terms of users, capacity,
and services while supporting greater than 99.999 percent availability.
"We chose Altera's solution after evaluating multiple programmable logic vendors
and their PCI IP. Altera's intuitive MegaCore®
IP combined with their excellent technical support allowed us to complete our
project very quickly, and enabled us to keep our commitments to customers,"
stated David Blakeney, Vice President, Platform Development for Marconi.
Blakeney added, "In addition to cost savings, Altera's solution is allowing
us to meet another important goal: create a design that is flexible enough to
function in different applications. The APEX™
device, Quartus® II
design software, and MegaCore
IP helped to establish this design as the PCI solution for other Marconi
products."
The ASX-4000, a scalable network switch that can support thousands of users
while maintaining high quality-of-service (QoS), relies on redundant control
processors to deliver increased reliability. These control processors communicate
via peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bridges and busses. Historically,
Marconi engineers used multiple off-the-shelf components to implement this system.
Today, Marconi utilizes Altera programmable logic and PCI
MegaCore IP, which enabled them to replace the separate components with
a single APEX 20KE PLD,
thereby reducing part count, board space, and overall system costs.
"Clearly, leading-edge technology companies like Marconi require complete system
solutions," said Craig Lytle, vice president of Altera's Intellectual Property
Business Unit. "The powerful combination of Altera's PLDs and our third-generation
PCI Compiler MegaCore function,
with its source code reference design and bundled PCI bus functional models,
provides a strong competitive advantage to customers who absolutely require
fast time-to-market."
For more information about APEX 20KE PLDs, go to: http://www.altera.com/products/devices/apex/apx-index.html
For more information about MegaCore Intellectual Property, go to: IP
MegaStore
For more information about Quartus II design software, go to: http://www.altera.com/products/software/products/quartus2/qts-index.html
For more information about the ASX-4000, go to: http://www.marconi.com/html/solutions/asx4000.htm
About Altera
Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company®, was founded in 1983
and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices (PLDs). Altera's CMOS-based
PLDs are user-programmable semiconductor chips that enhance flexibility and
reduce time-to-market for companies in the communications, computer peripheral,
and industrial markets. By using high performance devices, software development
tools, and sophisticated intellectual property cores, system-on-a-programmable-chip
(SOPC) solutions can be created with embedded processors, memory, and other
complex logic together on a single PLD. Altera common stock is traded on The
Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera is available
on the Internet at http://www.altera.com
About Marconi plc
Marconi plc has research and development facilities in 19 countries, manufacturing
operations in 16 countries, and serves customers in over 100 countries. Marconi
delivers innovative solutions that transform communications networks. Marconi
plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq under the symbol MONI.
Additional information about Marconi can be found at http://www.marconi.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to products,
partners, customers, future growth and other matters. Please refer to the Form
20-F report and Form 6-K reports filed by Marconi plc with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of risks that could cause
actual results to differ materially from such statements.
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