SAN JOSE AND ALAMEDA, Calif., October 23, 2000— Wind River Systems (Nasdaq: WIND), a leading provider of software and services for smart devices in the Internet age, and Xilinx, the world’s leading supplier of programmable logic devices, announced today a multi-faceted alliance for developing upgradable embedded systems for smart, networked devices already deployed in the field. Specifically, the agreement will enable developers to create hardware upgradable embedded systems using the Wind River Tornado® integrated development environment, VxWorks® real time operating system (RTOS) and Xilinx® programmable logic devices (PLDs). This is the first time that developers will have operating system-level tools to control PLDs to create remotely upgradable devices. 

The partnership has resulted in the first step of delivering the Xilinx PAVE™ interface to support Internet Reconfigurable Logic (IRL™) design environment with VxWorks. The PAVE interface is an extension to the VxWorks RTOS application programming interface (API) which allows the developer to reconfigure field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) after deployment. Adding IRL support to create re-configurable solutions allows for earlier deployment and extended longevity of products, especially those affected by evolving standards in the industry. 

Before the advent of RTOS-level support for programmable logic design, users could only approach the design of network upgradable applications from the chip level. This approach is more time-consuming and requires the user to have detailed knowledge of PLD design to incorporate upgradability into their system. By including IRL support within the VxWorks environment, developers can now write VxWorks applications to manage the reconfiguration of PLDs at the system level. 

“Upgradable embedded systems being created by Xilinx and Wind River are a major step towards the proliferation for reconfigurable smart devices,”says Curt Schacker vice president of corporate marketing and corporate development at Wind River. “We look forward to expanding the frontiers of embedded systems and helping our customers innovate and create reconfigurable devices with this agreement.” 

The PAVE interface from Xilinx is an upgrading solution consisting of a hardware design guideline and an API that provides a higher level abstraction for programming Xilinx devices. The API and design guidelines work together using readback, verification, rollback, and IRL design guidelines to provide reliable fault-tolerant field upgrades in a uniform manner. Because reliability is critical when designing field upgradable applications the rollback feature allows the system to return to the previous version of the instruction set, in case of network or power dropout during the upgrade process. Rollback assures developers they can meet demanding reliability, availability, serviceability, and security (RASS) requirements in embedded computers. 

“Partnering with Wind River helps our customers more quickly develop field upgradable applications using tools familiar to systems designers. In developing Xilinx Online™ applications, users can realize a savings in their overhead and field engineering costs once the applications are employed. This is critical to our PLDs further penetrating millions of Internet enabled devices now being shipped.” said Rich Sevcik, senior vice president of IP, Support and Software. “Xilinx devices are now considered a part of our customer's system architecture and forging ties with Wind River gives our customers the applicable system level tools.” 

About the PAVE interface 
The Xilinx PAVE interface is a PLD API for VxWorks RTOS-based Embedded systems. Currently, developers of field upgradable applications must develop their own software for interfacing the FPGA programming methodology with the VxWorks RTOS. The PAVE interface encapsulates that design work into a set of commands covering configuration, readback, and utilities for verification. 

Availability and compatibility 
PAVE is available now from Xilinx on a limited basis at no charge. PAVE is compatible with VxWorks 5.4 and Tornado II tools. The PAVE interface works with both industry standard JTAG IEEE Std. 1532 programming as well as the Xilinx high performance SelectMAPTM mode, the company's proprietary byte-wide programming method. 

About Wind River Systems 
Wind River is a worldwide leader in embedded software. Wind River provides software development tools, real-time operating systems, and advanced connectivity for use in products throughout the Internet, telecommunications and data communications, digital imaging, digital consumer electronics, networking, medical, computer peripherals, automotive, industrial automation and control, and aerospace/defense markets. Wind River is how smart things think. Founded in 1983, Wind River is headquartered in Alameda, California, with operations in sixteen countries worldwide. 

About Xilinx 
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 fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly 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. 

Wind River Systems, the Wind River Systems logo, VxWorks and Tornado are registered trademarks of Wind River Systems, Inc. All other registered trademarks or trademarks are property of their respective owners.
 
 

Editorial Contact:
Pamela Sufi	Ann Duft
Wind River	Xilinx, Inc.
(510) 749-2349	(408) 879-4726
pamela.suft@windriver.com	publicrelations@xilinx.com