Altera offers a unique combination of automotive-grade devices, solutions, and development kits. Our automotive-grade devices feature temperature range support from -40ºC to +125ºC (junction) [-40ºC to +130ºC (junction) for MAX® 7000AE CPLDs] and best-in-class automotive quality.
These devices meet or exceed ISO 9001:2001 and AEC-Q100 standards. All Altera automotive-grade devices are manufactured at fully TS-16949-registered/certified sites and support Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) documentation.
Altera’s automotive-grade devices are manufactured using some of the programmable logic industry’s smallest, highest reliability, and mainstream semiconductor fabrication processes [0.18-µm, non-volatile CMOS flash (MAX V CPLDs) and 0.60-nm CMOS SRAM (Cyclone® IV E FPGAs)]. Automotive OEMs benefit from advanced fabrication processes as smaller die sizes mean higher reliability and lower costs.
Altera is the only programmable logic supplier offering automotive-grade devices in the CPLD, FPGA, and ASIC semiconductor IC categories (see Table 1). These devices are perfectly suited for high-temperature environments such as automotive telematics, infotainment, and driver assistance systems, as well as next-generation hybrid engine control units.
Table 1. Altera’s Automotive-Grade Product Families
| Category | Device | Description |
|---|---|---|
| IC, CPLD | MAX V | High-density, low-power glue logic CPLDs (1.8 V) |
| IC, CPLD | MAX II | High-density, low-power glue logic CPLDs (3.3 V, 2.5 V) |
| IC, CPLD | MAX 7000AE | High-performance, glue logic CPLDs (5.0-V I/O compatible) |
| IC, FPGA | Cyclone IV E (1.2 V) |
Low-cost, low-power, feature-rich FPGAs. Ideal for new designs, with a longer lifecycle and lower pricing than Cyclone III automotive-grade devices. |
| IC, FPGA | Cyclone II* | Low-cost, feature-rich FPGAs |
| IC, FPGA | Cyclone* | Low-cost, glue logic FPGAs |
| IC, ASIC | HardCopy® II | Low-cost, one-million-gate ASICs. Benefit from unique combination of FPGA prototyping and optional migration to 90-nm automotive-grade ASIC. |
As automotive electronics continue to rapidly add more functionality and features, Altera's FPGAs, CPLDs, and ASICs offer many benefits over other ASSP or ASIC solutions:
- Lower overall development costs
- Shorter development times
- The ability to leverage a single chip solution over a wide range of product offerings
- Lower obsolescence risk
*Note: Altera continues to support Cyclone and Cyclone II automotive-grade devices for existing designs. For new designs, we recommend using Cyclone IV E automotive-grade devices.
