| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 25, 1999— In conjunction with a new reconfigurable demonstration and customer endorsements Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) announced today the Xilinx Online program to enable, identify, and promote field upgradable applications based upon the award winning Internet Reconfigurable Logic (IRL) methodology from Xilinx. These field upgradable applications are defined as being connected to a private or public network with the ability to be updated, fixed, or modified after they have been deployed in the field. Many Xilinx Online field upgradable applications use Xilinx Virtex devices for their size, speed, and flexibility. Such applications are being widely developed today and this new demonstration will be available at the Design Automation Conference in June in Xilinx booth #2532. "In the demonstration application which provides hardware acceleration for Photoshop filters, we wanted to show a complete system using standard tools available today for doing field upgrades," said Rich Sevcik, senior vice president software, cores and support at Xilinx. "With our tools, the Virtex series, our design service partners, and the reference designs, we are providing a complete environment to enable our customers to build the next wave of programmable logic applications." "Our customers include many of the world's space agencies and leading aerospace firms," said Toby Bennett, Vice President, TSI TelSys. "Their satellite ground station facilities, which utilize our protocol agile communication products, are often located in remote, inhospitable regions such as near the North Pole. TSI TelSys develops Xilinx Online applications so that our systems can be easily maintained and updated over the Internet." "Field upgradability is a factor in choosing a programmable device," said Tod Rikley, Hardware Development Manager at NorTel Networks, Belleville, Ontario. "In a number of our customer trials, our use of the download capabilities of the FPGA made it possible to offer our customers a hardware fix through software thereby avoiding a costly retrofit." Speaking on their downloading procedures for making post-installation upgrades, John Simmons, Project Leader, NDS, Ltd., said, " News Digital Systems (NDS) already makes great use of field upgrades: for example, all our FPGA design data is stored in flash memory and the flash is upgradable via the Ethernet. Field upgradability is essential to our success. It allows fast, cheap resolutions to the rare problems that we get in the field, and is a delight to our customers." NDS provides broadcast systems for HDTV. This demonstration application allows end users to select Photoshop filters configured for a Virtex FPGA from an Internet appliance website and securely download them using Java-based technology. These filters, designed using Xilinx software, are downloaded to a laptop and then programmed into a Virtex FPGA on a PCMCIA card designed by Annapolis Microsystems for high speed processing. Virtex FPGAs: The Basis for Upgradable Systems The Virtex family was developed to address system-level designs and field upgradable systems, integrating 200 MHz system interfaces and timing management capabilities within a million–gate FPGA that includes a hierarchy of memory resources. Virtex FPGAs support partial reconfiguration, thus allowing new circuitry to be downloaded while standard operation continues within the device. A fast 400Mb/second reconfiguration rate ensures that a full reconfiguration can be done in milliseconds and a partial reconfiguration can be done in microseconds. Reference designs will be available on the Xilinx Online web page within the Xilinx site. These web pages also contain frequently asked questions, a user forum, application notes, white papers, and links to third-party reconfiguration companies and design service companies supporting the development of Xilinx Online field upgradable applications. The Java API for Boundary-Scan is available now at www.xilinx.com/products/software/sx/sxpresso. Xilinx Online field upgradable applications are currently being used in network equipment, such as ATM switches, cellular base stations, and satellite communications systems. The Xilinx Online program is additionally targeting opportunities in emerging markets such as network appliances, multi-use set top boxes, and mobile network devices. 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 significantly reduce 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
names, Xilinx Online, Virtex, JBits, and ChipScope, are trademarks of Xilinx.
Other brands or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective owners.
|