CORE Solutions Overview

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Background

The ASIC core industry has been developing for over a decade. Today there exists a wealth of intellectual property (IP) that is readily available from numerous sources. During this time, however, programmable logic did not have the density or the performance needed to accommodate large IP cores.

Today, things have changed considerably. Xilinx is shipping FPGAs with usable densities up to 500,000 gates. Now, not only is the use of pre-defined logic functions in programmable logic a possibility, it is becoming a requirement to meet ever-shrinking product development cycles.

As a result, many ASIC core vendors and system designers are beginning to look at using cores for their programmable logic designs. It is for this reason that Xilinx created the CORE Solutions portfolio of products.

CORE Solutions Products

CORE Solutions products are broken into five groups, supporting four application areas as shown below. The application areas are as follows:

• Standard Bus Interfaces - such as PCI, PCMCIA, USB and IIC.
• DSP Functions - These range from small building blocks such adders, registers and multipliers, to larger system-level functions such as FIR filters and transforms.
• Communications and Networking - such as HDLC, T1 framers and ATM functions.
• Base-Level Functions - a broad category of functions used across many application segments. These include the very small parameterizable LogiBLOX macros up through larger functions such as UARTs and RISC processors.

A separate section of this databook is dedicated to each CORE Solutions group.

LogiCORE^TM Products

Xilinx was the first programmable logic company to embrace the concept of cores for FPGAs with the LogiCORE^TM PCI Interface. Today LogiCORE is the most successful core program in the programmable logic industry. Through it, Xilinx has gained considerable experience developing, selling and servicing FPGA cores.

LogiCORE products are pre-implemented and verified system level logic functions sold and supported directly by Xilinx.

The LogiCORE development team is also working on specific core-enabling technologies designed to make cores easier to develop and use. The first of these products includes the CORE Generator tool. Over time, Xilinx will continue to lead the industry with innovative core-based tools.

The LogiCORE Products section of this databook has complete datasheets on all released LogiCORE products.

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AllianceCORE^TM Program

Xilinx' goal is to expand the availability of quality cores for Xilinx programmable logic. In order to offer the broadest selection of cores to our customers, we have teamed up with leading third-party IP providers through the Xilinx AllianceCORE^TM program.

Xilinx works closely with these partners by sharing what we have learned through our own LogiCORE development efforts. AllianceCORE partners work to provide complete solutions for core-based programmable logic design. Individual datasheets for all support tools, such as development software and Xilinx-based prototyping boards are included in the AllianceCORE Products Section. AllianceCORE products are sold and supported directly by our partners.

The AllianceCORE products section of this databook includes complete datasheets on all released AllianceCORE products. Profiles of each partner and their particular areas of expertise are also included.

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Reference Designs

Reference Designs are free examples that provide a good starting point for the designer learning how to implement popular building-block and system-level functions.

The Reference Designs section of this databook lists all of the Xilinx Reference Designs that include design files, and where they can be found on the Xilinx world wide web site.

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LogiBLOX^TM Products

LogiBLOX is a graphical interactive tool for creating simple modules, such as counters, shift registers and multiplexers. LogiBLOX includes a library of generic modules with graphical user interfaces for parameterization, and is shipped with all Xilinx standard development system software.

The LogiBLOX Products section of this databook provides a brief overview of the modules that are available.

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Design Centers

The Design Center program was created to provide local technical support from qualified third-party design firms for customers using LogiCORE and AllianceCORE products. Currently, the LogiCORE PCI Interface is the only product supported by certified Xilinx Design Centers. Information for them is included in the LogiCORE PCI datasheets.

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