Internet Seminar - What is it?

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If you are teaching any course using Programmable Logic, Xilinx's University Program offers hands-on workshops in many locations around the world to help you get started. But if you cannot attend one of these workshops, the Internet Seminar is an excellent alternative. The instructional purpose of the Internet Seminar is very similar to that of our regular workshops and seminars. In addition, the XUP Internet Seminar is unique and entertaining since it utilizes leading edge internet technologies. 

The Internet Seminar is a virtual seminar which enables instructors or students anywhere with an internet connection to join in and learn about Xilinx Programmable Logic. The original live seminar was broken into three parts and performed twice to address two time zones - Asia as well as the Americas/European time zones. Each live performance consisted of a pre-event chat session, a formal audio and visual presentation, and an interactive Question and Answer session. Now the event has been archived for your use, but the experience is just as real ! 
The archived Xilinx University Program NetSeminar^TM lasts approximately 5 hours and consists of 4 integrated components: 

• The actual Presentation, stored in multiple platform independent formats (MS Powerpoint, Adobe Acrobat)
• Audio recording of the Presentation and the live Question and Answer sessions which followed the Presentation
• Text transcription of the audio

Additional text transcription of the questions and answers session from the Asian performance 
 

Course Contents

Part 1 

• Introduction to programmable logic device technology and PLD market
• Overview of Xilinx hardware and software products
• Chat session with Wim Roelandts, Xilinx Chief Executive Officer

• Technical overview of FPGA, CPLD, and RPU architectures
• Training on Foundation design entry including schematic, ABEL, and VHDL
• Foundation simulation
• Xilinx M1 implementation software and third party interfaces
• Xilinx Student Edition package

• Special Applications - PCI, DSP, Reconfigurable Logic
• Comparison of the economics of FPGAs vs. ASICs
• Participation in Xilinx's University Program
• Advice on course setup, hardware options, and sources of further information

 

Attend the XUP Internet Seminar

1. Go to the NetSeminar^TM site
2. Go to the ARCHIVE section, then the "Xilinx University Program NetSeminar Series" section.
3. Create your own Login ID and Password to sign in to the NetSeminar.
4. ....and learn !

 
5. You should also take note of the changes since July 1997, below.

Updates to the July, 1997 Internet Seminar 

1. Xilinx Foundation Series Express 1.4 is shipping as of February, 1998.  This adds many capabilities to Foundation 1.3, including IEEE standard VHDL and Verilog synthesis.  Go here for more information on Foundation Series Express 1.4. 

 
2. Compile times on version 1.4 software are significantly faster than even version 1.3, which was the newest Xilinx software version at the time of the internet seminar. 

 
3. The Xilinx Student Edition is now shipping by Prentice Hall and Amazon.com.  Full product information is available here.  The Xilinx Student Edition is also now upgradeable to Foundation Express 1.4 including VHDL and Verilog synthesis. 

 
4. Xilinx is not heavily promoting the XC6200 in schools anymore.  Separate software, XACT6000, for the PC and for the workstation is available, as well as XC6216 and XC6264 chips.  However, further XC6200 product development has been stopped. 

While this may sound like a drastic move, Xilinx's overall plans for reconfigurable computing are actually very encouraging.  Xilinx is taking many of the innovative features of the XC6200, such as dynamic and partial reconfiguration, and incorporating those into its mainstream product families. Specifically, the new Virtex family, which begins shipping in the second half of 1998, will encompass these features and add other capabilities so that dynamically reconfigurable logic can become mainstream.  Unlike the XC6200, Virtex will be part of Xilinx's standard Foundation and Alliance software, and it will be supported by other industry standard tools and many 3rd parties.