Altera

Altera. It is a prominent American manufacturer of programmable logic devices, particularly known for its field-programmable gate array and complex programmable logic device product lines. Founded in the 1980s, the company became a major competitor to Xilinx and was later acquired by Intel, integrating its technology into the broader data center and embedded system markets. Its hardware description language tools, especially Quartus Prime, are industry standards for digital circuit design.

History

The company was founded in 1984 by semiconductor industry veterans Robert Hartmann, Michael Magranet, and Paul Newhagen. Its early innovation was the first reprogrammable logic device, which provided an alternative to costly and inflexible application-specific integrated circuits. A significant early partnership with Intel involved embedding Altera's technology into the 80386 microprocessor. Throughout the 1990s, Altera grew rapidly, going public on the NASDAQ and establishing itself as a key player alongside Xilinx in the burgeoning FPGA market. The company expanded its intellectual property portfolio through the acquisition of companies like DSP Group and Tera Systems. In 2015, Intel announced its intention to acquire the firm, a deal completed in early 2016 that integrated Altera into the Intel Programmable Solutions Group.

Products

Altera's primary product families are built around its Stratix, Arria, and Cyclone series of field-programmable gate arrays, which cater to high-performance, mid-range, and cost-sensitive applications respectively. The MAX series represents its line of complex programmable logic devices for lower-density designs. For system development, the company offers a range of evaluation boards and kits, such as the DE-Series platforms. A critical component of its offerings is the Quartus Prime design software suite, used for programming and configuring its hardware. The company also provides a vast library of pre-designed intellectual property cores, known as the Altera IP Library, covering functions from Peripheral Component Interconnect Express interfaces to Nios II embedded processors.

Technology

The core technology revolves around SRAM-based programmable logic, where configuration bits define the function of interconnected logic elements and routing resources. A major architectural advancement was the introduction of the Adaptive Logic Module, a versatile building block that improved efficiency. For high-bandwidth applications, Altera developed embedded transceiver blocks supporting standards like PCIe and Ethernet. Its software technology stack includes the Hardware Description Language-based Quartus Prime tools and the higher-level OpenCL support for FPGA programming. The company was also a pioneer in integrating hardened processor systems, creating the Hard Processor System technology that combines an ARM architecture-based core with FPGA fabric.

Corporate affairs

Following its acquisition, the company operates as the Intel Programmable Solutions Group, headquartered in San Jose, California, with major design and manufacturing facilities globally. Key leadership has included CEOs such as John Daane and, following the acquisition, Sandra Rivera. The company maintains a significant intellectual property portfolio, holding numerous patents in programmable logic and related semiconductor design. It engages in extensive collaboration within the industry, being a founding member of consortiums like the University Program and participating in standards bodies for interfaces like Compute Express Link. Its main historical rival was Xilinx, now part of Advanced Micro Devices, with other competitors including Lattice Semiconductor and Microchip Technology.

See also

* Xilinx * Field-programmable gate array * Intel * Programmable logic device * Electronic design automation * Hardware description language

Category:Semiconductor companies Category:Companies based in San Jose, California