Altera's new Cyclone IV FPGA expands reach of Cyclone FPGA series

SAN JOSE, USA: Expanding on the success of the Cyclone FPGA series and extending its transceiver leadership, Altera Corp. today announced the new Cyclone IV FPGA family.

Responding to increased low-cost bandwidth needs driven by the demand for mobile video, voice, and data access, and the hunger for high-quality 3D images, the new Cyclone IV FPGA family adds support for mainstream serial protocols while offering an optimal balance of low cost, low power and a rich supply of logic, memory and DSP capabilities.

The Cyclone IV FPGA family offers two variants. Cyclone IV GX devices have up to 150K logic elements (LEs), up to 6.5-Mbits of RAM, up to 360 multipliers, and up to eight integrated 3.125-Gbps transceivers supporting mainstream protocols including Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), SDI, CPRI, V-by-One and Cyclone IV GX has hard IP for PCI Express (PCIe).

With low power consumption and packages as small as 11x11 mm, these devices address cost-sensitive, small form-factor applications in the wireless, wireline, broadcast, industrial and consumer markets.

Cyclone IV E devices deliver an unprecedented combination of low cost and high functionality, and lower power by up to 25 percent compared to previous generation Cyclone products for power-sensitive applications such as handheld software-defined radio.

"Cyclone IV FPGAs will expand the reach of FPGAs like never before," said Vince Hu, vice president of product and corporate marketing at Altera.

"By rivaling the cost of ASSPs and offering unmatched flexibility, Cyclone IV FPGAs are the obvious choice for next-generation designs. The innovative features of the Cyclone IV family make it easy for designers to support multiple protocols, simplify board design and create obsolescence-proof solutions that will outlast ASSPs."

For the Cyclone IV GX devices, Altera focused on reducing the total system cost. By integrating transceivers, Cyclone IV GX FPGAs eliminate external component costs and reduce power consumption up to 30 percent compared to previous generation Cyclone products combined with external transceiver PHYs. This power savings also reduces costs by eliminating the need for heat-dissipation hardware.

Cyclone IV GX devices require only two power supplies which significantly simplifies PCB design and reduces board space and cost. With a focus on low cost, Cyclone IV GX smallest device is the industry’s smallest FPGA with transceivers.

Pricing and availability
Production shipments of the EP4CGX15 and EP4C115E, the first Cyclone IV GX and Cyclone IV E devices respectively, will begin in the first quarter of 2010. Budgetary pricing for the smallest devices, the EP4CE6 and the EP4CGX15, will start as low as $3 and $6 respectively for 250K unit quantities in 2010.

The three smallest Cyclone IV GX devices will be supported in the Quartus II design software version 9.1 with the remaining Cyclone IV devices supported in the Quartus II design software version 9.1 service pack 1.