Ann Duft
Xilinx, Inc.
(408) 879-4726
ann.duft@xilinx.com

Kathy Keller
Oak Ridge Public Relations
(408) 253-5042
kathy.keller@oakridge.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 27, 1997—Xilinx, Inc., (NASDAQ:XLNX), the world leader in programmable logic devices (PLDs), today announced record growth in HDL synthesis tools through its Alliance EDA partners that was mainly fueled by the new Xilinx high-density FPGA family, including the XC4085XL device.

This demand for PLD synthesis has been rapidly increasing due to the new availability of high-density and high-performance PLDs. "The second wave is picking up speed," said Gary Smith, principal analyst at Dataquest. "It now looks like the gate count that drives an engineer into Register Transfer Language (RTL) design is 8,000 gates. In 1995, 16.5 percent of the FPGA/CPLD designers were using synthesis. We expect that percentage to double by the end of this year, adding over 7,000 seats in 1997."

"With the announcement of the Xilinx XC4085XL device, the highest density FPGA today, and denser devices for the second half of 1997, we’re projecting the penetration of synthesis seats to be in the 90-percent range of our high-density users," said Kenn Perry, director of Xilinx software marketing. "As many high-density designs go into development, users require more powerful tools. We continue to work closely with our Alliance partners to cooperatively develop and support the popular Xilinx PLDs."

"We’ve been in the FPGA synthesis business for ten years and last year, we saw a 60-percent increase in our accumulated seat base. This is explosive growth fueled by our support for Xilinx’s industry-leading high-density devices," said Bob Barker, vice president of marketing at Exemplar Logic, Inc., a Xilinx Alliance partner. "With high density FPGAs, the designer must have access to a fully-interactive design methodology; timing analysis and simulation become requirements for successful designs. Exemplar provides all these elements in its Leonardo and Galileo FPGA synthesis environments."

Andy Haines, vice president of marketing at Synplicity Inc., cited similar success. "We’ve seen 500-percent year over year increase in our sales, largely driven by our commitment to supporting Xilinx’s high-density devices. Further, as a partner in the Xilinx Alliance Partner Program , the close cooperation of our engineering teams has assured timely integration of Synplify with Xilinx’s next-generation tools, contributing to the 20-percent utilization and performance improvements we are seeing on the XC4000EX/XL devices using our Synplify software version 3.0."

Factors involved with the growth in synthesis sales are two-fold. First, just as the move to deep sub-micron ASIC technology has required new investments in new design methodologies, high-density PLD design engineers need new tools and design methodologies for denser PLD designs. Thus, designers are migrating from schematic capture design methodology to an HDL language-based design method providing a more productive means to improve time-to-market and the quality of the results for larger FPGA devices and systems.

Second, ASIC users are also demanding HDL tools for higher density FPGA devices. These ASIC designers are familiar with HDL methodologies and rely on the synthesis vendors and Xilinx to create intelligent tools targeting FPGA devices. Additionally, Xilinx’s support for industry-standards such as VITAL, SDF, and Verilog are facilitating this trend.

HDL synthesis tools from Xilinx Alliance partners differ from schematic entry tools due to the higher level of cooperative development efforts between Xilinx and synthesis vendors. In addition to Exemplar and Synplicity, the Xilinx Alliance Partner Program includes HDL/synthesis providers such as Cadence Design Systems, Data I/O Corporation, MINC Incorporated, Synopsys Inc., VeriBest Inc., and Viewlogic Systems Inc. and has developed high-density, PLD-specific tools that interact throughout the design process.

About Exemplar

Exemplar Logic, an independent subsidiary and Synthesis Center of Expertise of Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT), pioneered applying logic synthesis techniques to the design of FPGA and ASICs. The company develops and markets EDA software tools, and is the world’s leading FPGA synthesis tool suppliers. Exemplar’s products are sold and supported worldwide by Exemplar Logic, its OEMs and VARs, and Mentor Graphics. Exemplar’s design environments implement a complete high-level design (HLD) solution for FPGA, CPLD, and ASIC design, offering synthesis simulation and timing analysis for Windows 95, Windows-NT, LINUX, and UNIX (HP, Sun) platforms in server and non-server environments. For information on Exemplar’s products, contact Exemplar by calling 408-451-5829, sending email to sales@exemplar.com, or visit the Exemplar web site: www.exemplar.com. Exemplar Logic is located at 815 Atlantic Ave., Suite 105, Alameda, Calif. 94501-2274, 510-337-3700, (fax) 510-337-3799.

About Synplicity

Founded in 1994, Synplicity, Inc. delivers the benefits of logic synthesis to programmable device designers by developing fast, easy, affordable tools based entirely on the company's own technology. Synplicity products support industry-standard design languages (VHDL and Verilog), run on popular computer platforms (Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT and UNIX), and support leading manufacturers, including Xilinx. The company is located at 624 East Evelyn Avenue, Sunnyvale, Calif., 94086, phone: (408) 617-6000, fax: (408) 617-6001, email: info@synplicity.com, web: www.synplicity.com.

About Xilinx

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 (FPGA) 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.

Note to editors: Xilinx is a registered trademark of Xilinx, Inc. All XC-prefix product designations are trademarks of Xilinx, Inc. Other brands or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

# 9724