Case Study: Altera Corporation achieves earlier software development and higher debug productivity with Synopsys Virtual Prototyping Solution

Altera Corporation - Customer Case Study

Altera, a pioneer in programmable logic solutions (FPGAs, CPLDs and related tools), needed a way to enable much earlier software development for its Cyclone V and Arria V SoC FPGAs. The company faced challenges with slow traditional emulation/hardware simulation, low productivity when porting OSes and drivers, and the need for a proven, reliable virtual prototyping platform to support global teams and complex software stacks.

Altera used Synopsys’ Virtual Prototyping Solution to create a PC‑based virtual target (dual‑core ARM Cortex‑A9, binary/register‑compatible) that models a real development board and boots Linux out of the box. The virtual target accelerated software bring‑up and driver development, improved debug visibility and controllability (turning multi‑week fixes into days), reduced cost and schedule, simplified collaboration across teams, and delivered a production‑quality prototyping tool to customers.

Altera Corporation

Vince Hu

Vice President of Product and Corporate Marketing