Altera® HardCopy™ devices are the industry's first and only high-volume, low-cost mask-programmed devices that offer a comprehensive alternative to ASICs. Altera addresses the pain associated with ASIC development by providing the FPGAs, development tools, intellectual property (IP), and a seamless migration path from the function-verified prototypes to high-volume production devices with minimal risk and fast time-to-market. Designers using HardCopy devices now have the ability to manage costs, risks, and market uncertainty. Additionally, they get an average performance boost of 50% (compared to the FPGA design) and guaranteed first-time success in silicon. Supported by Altera's Quartus® II software (version 3.0 and later), engineers can now design an FPGA or a HardCopy device from their desktops using a similar design flow, architecture, tools, and IP. Designers face increasing product development costs and longer product development cycles, both due to shrinking process geometries and growing design complexity. These challenges also demand first silicon success to avoid costly and time-consuming re-spins. Only Altera's HardCopy device family directly addresses ASIC pains with these unparalleled features and benefits: - Prototype to volume production from a single vendor
- Prototype with Altera's high-density Stratix™, APEX™ 20KC & APEX 20KE FPGAs
- High-volume production with equivalent, low-priced HardCopy devices
- Single design flow, architecture, tools, and IP
- Quartus II Software Support
- Performance and power estimation tools for HardCopy devices
- Unified methodology supports design for FPGAs & HardCopy devices
- Tool components similar to ASIC design methodology
- Seamless Migration Process
- Minimal risk, guaranteed functionality
- Preserves FPGA architecture & FPGA-proven functionality
- Quick turnaround & fastest time-to-market
- Minimal customer involvement during the migration process
- ~50% performance improvement and ~40% power reduction compared to the FPGA
- Guaranteed First-Time Success
- Maintains FPGA process technology & in-system verified netlist (FPGA netlist is not modified)
- Common base arrays manufactured and ready for customization
- Design implemented with the top three metal layers for HardCopy APEX 20KE and HardCopy APEX 20KC devices and the top two layers for HardCopy Stratix devices
Altera's high-density FPGAs and HardCopy devices provide customers significant competitive advantages by minimizing development time and resources, maximizing first-time success, and accelerating time-to-market. For answers to commonly asked questions on HardCopy devices, see the HardCopy Frequently Asked Questions page. Also, read what customers are saying about HardCopy devices and their experience with HardCopy devices. Related Links |  | 
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