XILINX LAUNCHES ALLIANCE PROGRAM TO SUPPORT SYSTEM-LEVEL REFERENCE DESIGNS 

The program consists of fully functional designs that are applicable to a wide variety of digital electronic systems, including those used for networking, communications, video and imaging applications.

"The use of reference designs is one of the fastest ways for our mutual customers to get their products up and running," said Mark Aaldering, senior director of marketing for the IP Solutions Division at Xilinx. "Creation of this exciting new program reflects the overwhelming market acceptance of new system-level programmable logic devices like Virtex™  and Spartan® -II FPGAs.  Today, increasingly customers are using FPGAs at the heart of their systems to connect to a variety of other digital components such as advanced memories, microprocessors, DSP processors and ASSPs." 

Reference designs in this program can also help designers implement cost reduction strategies for subsequent product generations as well as bypass significant amounts of up-front development efforts with the confidence that the design will result in an operable system.

Partners in the Xilinx Reference Design Alliance Program will have access to specialized technical support and preferential access to Xilinx devices, IP, software, and customer training. Current reference designs are available on a new section on the Xilinx Web site. The designs typically include schematics, HDL code, block diagrams, application information, and development boards. 

For example, a design by NetLogic Microsystems, Mountain View, Calif., is for a modular interface implemented in the Xilinx Virtex-E FPGA.  The design allows multiple microprocessors or network processors to offload complex and computationally intensive table searching tasks to NetLogic Microsystems’ advanced silicon search engine products via a peripheral bus. The design offloads table searches from the CPU, leaving more cycles free for applications, and it allows for instantiation of multiple processor and multiple search engine interfaces. High performance Virtex-E FPGAs allow for peripheral bus interfaces operating in excess of 100MHz. The SelectRAM blocks in the Virtex-E device enable the interface to handle wide search keys without wasting CLBs and its high pin count removes I/O as a bottleneck.

About Xilinx
Xilinx is the leading innovator of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San
Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, high-reliability/military, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com.