Altera Donates Development and Education Boards to LSU’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

Building on the goals of Altera's University Program, the students of Louisiana State University's (LSU) Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (ECE) have received eight DE2 Development and Education boards, with accompanying software in support of their academic pursuits of digital logic, computer organization and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

The donated boards valued at over $2,000, assist professors, instructors and students to successfully use Altera's programmable logic devices (FPGAs and CPLDs) and provide the best educational experience possible.

"Altera Corporation is delighted to participate in the electrical and computer engineering curriculum at LSU," said Stephen Brown, director of Altera's University Program. "We are dedicated to helping educate students worldwide through the program, which contributes to the development of engineering skills that play a key role in today's global economy."

FPGAs are reprogrammable, which allows them to be reconfigured to suit a specific design task at hand. This capability has made FPGAs fundamental building blocks in a variety of applications, from telecommunications and networking to medical, automotive, and industrial settings.

Featuring an Altera Cyclone II FPGA, the ready-to-teach boards enable the user to perform a variety of design projects, with exercises ranging from simple tasks illustrating fundamental concepts to challenging designs that require more advanced knowledge. For added flexibility, the boards have standard connectors for microphone, line-in, line-out, and video features to create CD-quality audio applications and professional videos. For large design projects, the boards provide USB connectivity, Ethernet, an infrared port and an SD memory card connector.

"We are greatly appreciative of Altera's support which plays an important role in ensuring that academic excellence is continued within LSU's Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering," said Jorge Aravena, ECE Department Chairman. "Altera's donation will allow the department to keep pace with the fundamental and ever-changing needs of the fast-paced systems design field and help to educate the highly-qualified future engineers required for these endeavors."

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Altera Corporation invented the world's first reprogrammable logic device in 1984, enabling system and semiconductor companies to rapidly and cost-effectively innovate, differentiate and win in their markets. Altera combines the programmable logic technology with software tools, intellectual property, and customer support top provide high-value programmable solutions to over 12,000 customers. Today, over 2,600 employees in 19 countries provide even more ingenious custom logic solutions.

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Editorial contact: Shannon Norwood, Mass Communications Intern, LSU College of Engineering, 225-578-5478,tvabshire@lsu.edu