FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE MATHWORKS AND XILINX MAKE PLANS TO TAKE FPGAS 
INTO MAINSTREAM DSP

Respective leaders form strategic alliance to facilitate system designers' adoption of FPGA-based DSP; 
Demonstration of The Xilinx System GeneratorTM for The MathWorks Simulink at
DSP World conference

SAN JOSE, Calif., AT THE DSP WORLD CONFERENCE, April 10, 2000—The MathWorks, Inc. and Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) announced today that they are entering an exclusive strategic alliance to lead the growing momentum behind using FPGAs for high-performance digital signal processing (DSP) applications. The scope of the alliance includes joint development, marketing and sales, and the first product will be the Xilinx® SYSTEM GeneratorTM for The MathWorks Simulink®. Used with The MathWorks' popular Simulink System-Level Design tools and the Xilinx CORE GeneratorTM and LogiCORETM DSP cores, this software is the first in a series of planned offerings that will bridge the recognized gap between system-level design and FPGA implementation.

"With rapidly expanding capabilities, we have seen Xilinx VirtexTM and Spartan-IITM FPGA families being the optimal solution in many new emerging DSP applications including 3-G wireless communication systems, wireless Internet access, HDTV, and image processing," said Ken Karnofsky senior marketing manager DSP/Communication, at The MathWorks. "After having worked together with Xilinx for two years, this formal alliance will allow us to lead this trend by opening up the usage of FPGAs to the DSP designer community."

The Xilinx SYSTEM Generator for the MathWorks Simulink complements the Xilinx solution of fully parameterizable high-performance LogiCORE DSP cores. The tools will enable designers to build and verify an entire DSP system and then automatically generate a HDL representation compatible with Xilinx FPGA implementation. The tool will automatically map the DSP design to the Xilinx LogiCORE building blocks for an optimal implementation, highest performance, and lowest silicon cost.

"The biggest obstacle that designers have had to overcome when using FPGAs in DSP applications has been transitioning from a system-level design representation to FPGA hardware implementation—until now," explains Rich Sevcik, senior vice president for service, IP solutions, and software. "Through the partnership and the new Xilinx SYSTEM Generator for The MathWorks Simulink, we're creating a complete DSP solution from system design to FPGA implementation."

Traditionally, DSP designers have chosen between an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or an application specific standard product (ASSP), and a DSP processor or microprocessor. FPGAs combine the best from both worlds by providing the performance and system integration of ASICs/ASSPs and the reprogrammability and time-to-market benefits of processors.

"Through our industry leading 0.18 micron process technology and several unique architectural features such as True Dual-Port memory and dedicated multiplier logic in Virtex and Spartan-II FPGAs, our customers achieve tremendous performance benefits in DSP applications," said Sandeep Vij, vice president of marketing at Xilinx. "The new Xilinx SYSTEM Generator for The MathWorks Simulink will allow our existing customers to save significant development time and it will bring the benefits of Xilinx FPGA technology to many DSP designers new to FPGAs."

License price and availability

The Xilinx SYSTEM Generator for The MathWorks Simulink will be available in production from Xilinx in the third quarter 2000. More information on the product and Xilinx DSP solution is available on the Xilinx IP center.

Simulink is available from The MathWorks today. Simulink is available separately as part of The MathWorks System-Level Design Environment. More information or to purchase visit www.mathworks.com.

About The MathWorks' System-Level Design Environment

Unlike traditional approaches to system design that require the expensive and time-consuming processes of building prototypes and hand-coding software, The MathWorks System-Level environment enables you to build and test virtual prototypes in order to explore design concepts and simulate system behavior at any level of detail. By using The MathWorks product Simulink to iterate and refine designs before building the first prototype, you can take advantage of a more efficient design process that allows you to build the most innovations into your products. Simulink provides a single, open platform for algorithm development, system-level design and simulation of DSP and Communications systems. The Simulink environment encourages collaboration and complement traditional design and development tools. 

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.

About The MathWorks

The MathWorks develops technical computing software for engineers and scientists in industry and education. An extensive family of products, based on MATLAB and Simulink, provides high-productivity tools for solving challenging mathematical, computational, and simulation problems.

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