An editor's glance at the Xilinx 3.3-volt Spartan Series
New 3.3-volt Spartan series from Xilinx offers programmable logic advantages to high volume ASIC users
 Intro
Technology description:
Key features:
Product availability:
Package options:
Software support:
Cores support:
Intro
The SpartanXL family is a 3.3-volt derivative of the popular 5-volt Spartan FPGA family, announced in January 1998, targeted for high-volume, high-performance, low-voltage applications. All five members of the 5-Volt Spartan family have been in production for nine months and receiving overwhelming demand for the RAM capabilities, low-power benefits an ASIC-like price points. The SpartanXL family continues the Xilinx standard of superior high performance set with the 5-volt version at a reduced cost, lower power, and improved performance.
Technology description:
- First FPGA to combines on-chip RAM, high performance, and robust core support at ASIC prices.
- Manufactured on a hybrid process at the Seiko facility in Taiwan
Key features:
- Inherent performance improvements and lower cost and price in the migration to 0.35-micron process
- Spartan series has fastest unit shipment growth rate of any other FPGA in the industry
- Addresses high-volume ASIC applications up to 40,000 system gates
- Industry's smallest die size FPGA with RAM due to addressing the cost of manufacturing in all stages of cycle: packaging, assembly, test, and overhead costs
- Footprint compatible across multiple package options
- Programmable 5V/3V compatibility with 5-volt version of Spartan series
- Priced lower than the 5-volt predecessors due to the migration to 0.35-micron technology
| Product availability: | Logic cells | System gates | Maximum I/Os | Maximum RAM bits | Price * | Production Availability |
| XCS05XL-3 (PC84) | 238 | 2,000 - 5,000 | 80 | 3,200 | $2.95 | 98Q4 |
| XCS10XL-3 (PC84) | 466 | 3,000 - 10,000 | 112 | 6,272 | 4.45 | 98Q4 |
| XCS20XL-3 (VQ100) | 950 | 7,000 - 20,000 | 160 | 12,800 | 5.45 | 98Q4 |
| XCS30XL-3 (VQ100) | 1368 | 10,000 - 30,000 | 192 | 18,432 | 6.95 | now |
| XCS40XL-3 (PQ208) | 1862 | 13,000 - 40,000 | 224 | 25,088 | 9.90 | 98Q4 |
* Pricing for 100,000-plus unit quantities in mid-1999
Package options:
plastic leaded chip carrier (PLCC); plastic quad (PQ), thin quad (TQ), very thin quad (VQ), flat packs; and ball grid array (BGA)
Software support:
Available now in the latest version, version 1.5, both the Foundation and Alliance Series software
Cores support:
- Cores available specifically targeting this series from several Xilinx AllianceCORE partners
- PCI and DSP cores in Xilinx LogiCORE series
- New PCI interface from the Xilinx LogiCORE offerings are available, including the zero wait-state 33 MHz PCI LogiCORE
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