Overview

Xilinx Virtex Series consists of:

Virtex (2.5V operation)
Virtex-E (1.8V operation)
Virtex-E Extended Memory (1.8V operation)
Virtex-II Architecture

The Virtex Series of Field Programmable Gate Arrays is the fastest growing programmable logic architecture in history. This success is due to the enormous acceptance by design engineers and systems architects who find the range of densities and robust features coupled with high performance offer the best platform for system development.

"The Virtex family allows us to consider the development of
FPGA cores that were not possible before."-Timothy Smith
Memec Design Services

Xilinx FPGA leadership began with the first FPGA in 1985, and continues with our latest solutions. Our first devices met with great success because they offered a flexible alternative for design and production. The XC4000 family, introduced in 1990, was the first FPGA offering on-board distributed RAM. The XC4000 became the industry standard and was the fastest growing programmable logic family in history until the Virtex family was introduced in October, 1998.

The original 2.5-volt Virtex family offers features targeted for high performance applications such as networks, video, and test equipment. Features include:

• Robust memory resources:
  • Block RAM
  • Distributed RAM
  • High-speed external memory interfaces
• Delay-Locked Loops (DLLs) enable designers to de-skew system clocks
• SelectI/O+™ technology allows designers to choose one of 17 I/O standards (20 for Virtex-E) for any I/O pin

The Virtex-E family, introduced one year later, has been even more successful than the original Virtex family. The Virtex-E family delivers higher densities, more RAM, more DLLs, the revolutionary SelectLink™ technology and high-speed differential signaling (LVDS, BusLVDS, and LVPECL). In addition, the Virtex-E density range and features set allows designers the greatest flexibility and highest performance of any FPGA available. This year, we added theVirtex-E Extended Memory family which offers even more block RAM per logic cell than the Virtex-E for networking and video applications.

Take a look at the Virtex architecture, and see for yourself that it is the high performance platform poised for the next generation of systems.