Nuvation joins Altera Consultant Alliance Program (ACAP)

San Jose, Calif., March 15, 2001 — Nuvation today announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Altera Corporation (NSDQ:ALTR) through the Altera Consultant Alliance Program (ACAP).

Altera, the leading supplier of Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), created ACAP as a way to identify and promote superior engineering consultants based on their knowledge of Altera's device architectures and tools as well as their proven ability to accelerate complex PLD design schedules. Nuvation's membership in the alliance gives Altera's customers access to unparalleled breadth and depth of engineering expertise, enabling them to rapidly develop programmable devices from concept, through design and synthesis, and into testing and integration.

As the complexity of technology increases, it becomes mission-critical for leading technology companies to access immediate embedded system design expertise. Over the past few years, this requirement has fueled a growing trend among leading technology companies to outsource PLD designs. Nuvation has built a reputation as the leading Silicon Valley engineering design house for complex PLD design and integration. Nuvation has been recognized for its skill diversity, flexible resources and ability to deliver solutions where time-to-market is crucial. Altera recognizes that high-tech companies require specialized skills and immediate resources to keep pace with today's market dynamics - thus the partnership with Nuvation.

In describing the importance of the alliance between Altera and Nuvation, Craig Lytle, Vice-President of Altera's IP Business Unit, stated, "We are thrilled to have Nuvation as an Altera design partner. Nuvation is our first ACAP partner to come about through a field sales force nomination. Their reputation is well known and we are counting on their services to accelerate the complex PLD designs our clients require." Michael Worry, Nuvation's CEO, added, "We have long valued our relationship with Altera. Altera has been a client of Nuvation in the past, and we are excited to expand the relationship into a partnership status. Together we can amplify the value statement of outsourced engineering, to the benefit of our mutual clients."

About Altera

Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company, was founded in 1983 and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices and associated logic development firmware tools. Programmable logic devices are semiconductor chips that can be programmed on-site, using firmware tools that run on personal computers or engineering workstations. User benefits include ease of use, lower risk, and fast time-to-market. Altera's CMOS-based programmable logic devices address high-speed, high-density and low-power applications in the telecommunications, data communications, computer peripheral, and industrial markets. Altera common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR.

About Nuvation

Nuvation is a leading Electronics Design Services (EDS) firm that provides ASIC, FPGA, board, and firmware design services for the embedded systems industry. Nuvation's design experience spans industries such as Communications, Consumer Electronics, Medical , and Security/Defense. Founded in 1997 and based in San Jose, California, Nuvation's customers include a number of notable companies such as Altera, Lucent, HP, JDS Uniphase, Infineon, LeapFrog, SanDisk, Finisar, and Trimble Navigation. Nuvation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAR Systems (OMX:IAR). More information is available at www.nuvation.com

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Contacts:

Chris Hallahan
VP Sales & Marketing
Nuvation
408-228-5580 x122
chris.hallahan@nuvation.com