Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Stock Swap -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Papillon who wrote (12670)	3/10/1998 10:19:00 AM
From: Andrew Vance	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17305

AV--The following is NOT a timely post but is just additional substance for those invested in IDTI. Of critical note is that IDTI is a major investor in this company and Altera is not exactly an insignificant company to target. Monday March 9, 10:29 am Eastern Time Company Press Release TAARCOM Offers No-NRE ASIC Conversions of Altera FLEX 8000 FPGAS LASIC Prototypes Available in Two Weeks MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9, 1998--TAARCOM, INC. today announced that it is offering its customers no-NRE FPGA-to-ASIC conversions of Altera FLEX 8000(R) FPGAs, using Clear Logic CL8000 family of laser-configured ASICs (LASIC(TM)s). The CL8000 devices will cost 20% to 50% less than their FLEX 8000 counterparts. They will also consume 1/3 less power. TAARCOM will deliver CL8000 prototypes within two weeks of receiving the customer's bitstream file. According to John Grauel, TAARCOM's president and CEO, ''Clear Logic's LASICs are the best FPGA-to-ASIC conversion solution that we have seen. Clear Logic has devised a new ASIC architecture that, unlike a finely grained ASIC, has the same type of high-level logic elements as the Altera FPGA. ''As a result,'' Grauel explained, ''the design can be converted directly from the customer's bitstream, without any customer-side engineering. There is no reversion to the original VHDL or Verilog design. There's no resynthesis. And there's no resimulation. Clear Logic automatically generates all the test vectors with 100% fault coverage and devices are completely tested at the factory. ''All the customer has to do is hand us a disk with his bitstream file. A week later, we will deliver a prototype LASIC that will function identically to the source Altera FPGA, including timing, pin-outs and boot-up configuration modes. Since LASICS are laser-configured, there are no NRE charges, no minimum orders, and we can deliver production quantities within four weeks. ''TAARCOM's main strength is our ability to provide high quality, specialized engineering service to our customers. Clear Logic's LASIC conversions of Altera FLEX 8K devices, will certainly enhance our ability to provide a custom product that is painless for our customers,'' Grauel concluded. According to Clear Logic's president and CEO, Al Huggins ''TAARCOM is the ideal firm to support CL8000 devices in Northern California on the West Coast. They are the premier provider of engineering support for products with high technology content. They excel at tailoring the engineering solution to meet the specific needs of each and every customer. We expect that their support of Clear Logic LASICs will result in accelerated market penetration.'' [deleted unit pricing stuff here] LASIC conversions of other FLEX 8000 family members will be added throughout 1998. In addition, Clear Logic will be introducing a family of LASICs in support of addition Altera FPGA families. Note to Editors: Clear Logic, Inc. was founded in 1996 to offer a no-NRE, quick turn-around cost reduction path for designs that have been implemented using FPGAs. The company employs a proprietary process that converts the FPGA design to an ASIC. Clear Logic has none of the NRE charges or minimum order sizes that are typically associated with ASICs. Clear Logic devices are guaranteed to function identically to their programmable counterparts with no timing problems. Clear Logic is privately held. Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDTI - news) is a major investor. Clear Logic's WWW site is www.clear-logic.com. TAARCOM was founded in 1980 to offer engineering and sales support for electronic products with high technological content in Northern California the Western United States. The company has 21 employees in California. TAARCOM's WWW site is www.taarcom.com. FLEX is a registered trademark of Altera Corporation. FastTrack is a trademark of Altera Corporation. LASIC is a trademark of Clear Logic Inc. Andrew