SAN JOSE, Calif., PC Developers EXPO, May 18, 1998—Taking the industry’s most popular PCI solution for FPGAs and moving it to the mainstream PCI market, Xilinx, Inc., (NASDAQ: XLNX), announced today the availability of "Xilinx PCI" and its LogiCORE PCI32 Spartan cores. The PCI cores are included in a new PCI32 design kit with a PCI prototyping board from Virtual Computer Corp., (VCC), plus reference drivers for Windows 95/98/NT and full-featured driver development tools from Vireo Software, Inc. The design kit also includes several reusable PCI bridge design examples with FIFOs and DMA controllers. The Xilinx PCI solution lowers the system cost—as much as $15 per board—and eradicates the integration limitations seen in standard chip solutions. Moreover, it provides the flexibility, ease-of-use, and time-to-market benefits necessary to successfully design a PCI system that is fully compliant with the challenging PCI specification. 

"The new Xilinx PCI solution exemplifies the exciting evolution of FPGA technology where decreasing prices result in significant cost savings advantages over standard chip solutions," said Babak Hedayati, program director of Xilinx Core Solutions Marketing. "By complementing our FPGAs and PCI cores with third-party PCI development tools, we can provide the most flexible and cost-effective design solution for PCI." 

PCI Interface, FIFOs, and User-Logic for $19  

The new LogiCORE PCI32 core is a fully compliant 32-bit, 33 MHz PCI Master and Slave interface designed for the Spartan family. Designers can implement the PCI core, one or more high-speed FIFOs through the Xilinx SelectRAM feature, and the user logic, on the same chip. The PCI core occupies about 45 percent of a 30,000 gate Spartan device, XCS30, leaving more than 15,000 system 

gates for FIFOs and application-specific logic. The price for the PCI-compatible version of the XCS30 is $19 in high-volume. Hence, the silicon cost for the PCI interface is only $8.55. 

"In almost every PCI board design with a standard PCI chip, designers need to add an additional FPGA to customize the solution," continued Hedayati. "As a result, the cost savings of a single FPGA solution compared to inflexible standard chips can be $10 to $15 per board." 

To further reduce learning curves and development time, Xilinx has formed partnerships with VCC and Vireo Software to offer a complete PCI32 design kit: 

• LogiCORE PCI32 interfaces for Spartan and XC4000 FPGAs
• HotPCI Spartan prototyping board from VCC
• Reference drivers for Windows 95/98/NT from Vireo
• Full-featured Driver::Works and VtoolsD device driver tools from Vireo Software (development license)
• A $200 discount voucher towards the purchase of an unrestricted license from Vireo
• Reusable PCI bridge design examples in VHDL and Verilog

Driver::Works and VtoolsD driver development tools from Vireo Software allow the designer to change the accompanying example drivers or develop drivers from scratch. An unlimited production license is available from Vireo Software. 

The Xilinx LogiCORE PCI32 cores implement the recently announced Smart-IP technology and deliver a highly predictable implementation with guaranteed timing. The cores are easily configured and downloaded together with HDL testbenches and simulation models from the Xilinx web site. 

License cost and availability  

The LogiCORE PCI32 4000 (V2.0) core, for the XC4000 FPGA family is available now. The PCI32 Design Kit and the LogiCORE PCI32 Spartan core will be available in June 1998. All LogiCORE PCI products are configured and downloaded from the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com/products/logicore/pci/pci_sol.htm. The price for the Xilinx PCI32 Design Kit is $8,995. 

Vireo Software, Inc. is the leading worldwide provider of device driver programming tools for Microsoft Windows platforms. Vireo's Driver::Works, Driver::Agent, and VtoolsD products offer a powerful, scaleable suite of tools designed to simplify hardware access and control. Founded in 1989, the company is privately held and based in Concord, Massachusetts (USA). For further information, contact Vireo Software: (978) 369-3380; fax: (978) 318-6946; Internet: sales@vireo.com. Vireo’s Web site provides detailed product information at www.vireo.com. 

Virtual Computer Corporation, the worldwide leader in Reconfigurable Computer products, provides hardware and software solutions for core validation, hardware/software co-design and high performance computing systems using Xilinx FPGAs. VCC offers a variety of products for workstations and personal computers utilizing 'Hardware Object Technology'(sm), our patented run-time reconfiguration process. Founded in 1989, Virtual Computer Corp. is based in Reseda Calif. For more information contact Virtual Computer Corp. Tel:(818)342-8294; Fax:(818)-342-0240; Email info@vcc.com; or visit our web site at www.vcc.com. 

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 commands more than half of the world market 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. 

Xilinx is a registered trademark of Xilinx, Inc. All XC-prefix and XCS-prefix product designations, LogiCORE, Spartan, and Select-RAM are trademarks of Xilinx, Inc. Driver::Agent, Driver::Works, and VtoolsD are trademarks of Vireo Software, Inc. Other products and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.  
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