Jason Feinsmith
Xilinx Inc.
USA (408) 879-4961
jason.feinsmith@xilinx.com

Tom Robbins
Prentice Hall
USA (201) 236-7363
tom_robbins@prenhall.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 5, 1997--Xilinx, Inc., (NASDAQ:XLNX), the world's leading supplier of programmable logic solutions, and Prentice Hall, the premier publisher of engineering books and software for the academic market, have partnered to produce the Xilinx Student Edition.

The Xilinx Student Edition, to be priced under $90 U.S. in academic bookstores worldwide, marks the first complete digital design learning environment for college-level instruction. Now educators can easily incorporate full course and lab materials into their curriculums, and students can access Xilinx programmable logic technology at an affordable price.

Xilinx introduced the industry’s first field programmable gate array (FPGA) device in 1985. Since then, FPGA devices have significantly altered all aspects of digital design by making hardware prototyping results available immediately and easily.

"Today, with nearly 1,000 colleges and universities using Xilinx programmable logic tools in courses, Xilinx is twice as popular in the higher education market as its nearest competitor," said Jason Feinsmith, Xilinx University program manager. "This offering, the first of more to come, will create a second wave of acceptance in electronics education by breaking all previous cost, availability, and ease-of-use barriers."

"We have been using the Foundation series tools for the past two semesters with great success in our introductory computer architecture subject," said Professor Gill Pratt of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The use of Xilinx FPGAs has allowed our students to construct their own modern RISC system - an impossible task with our previous protoboard-based laboratory hardware. Experimental sections of the laboratory have received favorable responses from students, and the entire subject will be taught with these tools and hardware in the fall of 1997."

The Xilinx Student Edition includes:

· The Xilinx XACTstep Foundation^TM Series Student Edition software for the Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems. The easy-to-use Foundation software includes schematic entry, Data I/O's XABEL text entry, waveform simulation, programmable logic implementation software, and on-line documentation. Compatible with commercial Xilinx software which may be in use in university labs, the Student Edition software permits users to implement designs up to 8,000 logic gates.

· The Xilinx Student Edition Lab Book, which provides readers with the step-by-step instructions needed for designing and downloading multiple designs into Xilinx FPGA devices and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs). The lab book includes working examples and hands-on lab exercises that cover topics ranging from basic digital design concepts to state machines and 4-bit microprocessors.

· A coupon for discounts on Xilinx XC4000E and XC9500 device-based prototyping boards and cables developed specifically for this package. Completed designs can be downloaded in seconds directly from the PC to the prototyping boards. Since the on-board programmable logic chips can be reprogrammed repeatedly, students and instructors can reuse the same hardware for different designs.

Instructors who wish to make the Xilinx Student Edition part of their curriculum have the option of packaging the lab book with any Prentice Hall digital design book for additional savings and course completeness. For further information see http://www.xilinx.com/programs/univ.htm.

Founded in 1984, Xilinx is the world's largest supplier of programmable logic solutions producing industry-leading device architectures and world class design software. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the company pioneered the market for field programmable gate array semiconductor devices that provide high integration and quick time-to-market for electronic equipment manufacturers in the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, high-reliability/military, and consumer markets. For more information on Xilinx, access the worldwide web site at http://www.xilinx.com.

Prentice Hall, a division of Simon & Schuster Higher Education Group, is the premier source of engineering and computer science books and software. Simon & Schuster, the publishing operation of Viacom, Inc., is the world's largest educational publisher as well as a leader in consumer, business, professional and reference publishing. With operations in 43 countries, its imprints include Prentice Hall, Silver Burdett Ginn, Allyn and Bacon, Computer Curriculum Corp., Educational Management Group, Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, Scribner, The Free Press and Macmillan Publishing USA. For more information on Prentice Hall, access the worldwide web site at http://www.prenhall.com.

Xilinx is a registered trademark of Xilinx, Inc. All XC-prefix product designations, Foundation and XACTstep are trademarks of Xilinx, Inc. Other brands or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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