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XC4000 FPGA Provides IKOS with Increased Capacity for Third-Generation Emulator
 , Inc., a California based
provider of design verification solutions, recently unveiled its newest
emulation product, the VLE-5M. IKOS used the June '99 Design Automation
Conference as its venue to launch the newest architecture, which leverages
standard Xilinx FPGA technology to reduce product cycle time.
IKOS is a long-time customer of Xilinx having used the XC4000 series FPGAs
in previous generation emulators. This third-generation emulation
system contains a hybrid architecture of 405 FPGAs per system; 64 per each
of the six array boards in addition to the 21 FPGAs on the system board.
Each of the 384 array board FPGAs is connected to one other.
“Because it is a high density, high capacity device, the Xilinx FPGA allows us to provide very large capacity emulators to meet our customers’ needs,” said Juergen Jaeger, Director of Emulation Product Marketing for IKOS. IKOS has traditionally used external memory devices such as SRAM, but are now beginning to take advantage of the internal memory. “The obvious result of using the embedded RAM of the FPGA is an increase in the speed and efficiency of our products. The device allows us to build upon our already successful architecture,” said Jaeger. The VirtualLogic compiler, IKOS’ patented software technology, is entirely automatic and highly predictable, unlike traditional emulation systems requiring significant user intervention and pathfinding through several software programs. VirtualLogic provides a highly reliable compile by isolating the timing variables of the FPGA from the user’s design. “The emulator automatically partitions and routes into the FPGA based upon the Xilinx architecture. Using an alternative device could delay our product development time significantly,” said Jaeger. The key innovations reflected in VLE-5M result in more frequent releases
of the hardware platform, better utilization of the core technology incorporated
in the emulator and a new path for creating high-performance interfaces.
“Reconfigurability is a key element for IKOS; we are constantly reprogramming
all 405 FPGAs in our system. This gives the user the ability to download
the new applications from a remote location,” said Jaeger.
With its unique technology, IKOS is able to deliver the industry’s lowest emulation prices. The basic cost of the VLE-5M is currently $0.37/ASIC gate. Overall emulation capacity is 4.5 million gates plus 48 MB of memory. This low cost is combined with ease of use, fast compile times of VLE without specialized facilities. With this cost-performance ratio, users can achieve double the emulation capacity over previous emulation solutions. To handle more challenging SOC designs, IKOS has already started work on its fourth-generation emulator, which will be based on million-gate Xilinx Virtex FPGAs. IKOS has a direct sales operation in North America, UK, France, Germany,
and Japan, and a distribution network throughout Asia-Pacific and Israel.
Corporate headquarters are located in Cupertino, California. For
more information on IKOS Systems, visit their website at www.ikos.com |
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