"Earlier this year, we announced the availability of our innovative CORE Generator tool. We promised that this tool would be the vehicle for delivering Xilinx cores as well as cores from our AllianceCORE partners," said Babak Hedayati, program director CORE Solutions Marketing." We are delivering on this vision together with Memec Design Services today, and with other partners in the future. The unique nature of the Xilinx IP reuse strategy allows for new cores to be accessible from the Xilinx CORE Generator tool." 

"We see the CORE Generator tool as a critical part of our core delivery strategy for our intellectual property portfolio and our Xilinx alliance," said Timothy Smith, managing director of Memec Design Services. "Cores enhance the usability of the Xilinx Spartan, XC4000XL, and million-gate Virtex FPGA families, and cores are essential to meet the time to market requirements of today’s designs. Memec Design Service’s cores and IP leverage Xilinx Smart-IP technology. This means that the end customer gets an optimized, tested, and very cost effective FPGA solution." 

The new cores are replacements for popular industry standard functions in embedded systems while the XFRSDVB Reed Solomon Encoder core is specifically targeted toward digital video broadcast applications. The following AllianceCORE products can now be integrated into and delivered through the Xilinx CORE Generator tool: 

• XF-TWSI - I2C-compatible two-wire serial interface
• XF8250 UART
• XF8255 Programmable Peripheral Interface
• XF8256 Multifunction Microprocessor Support Controller
• XF8279 Programmable Keyboard Display Interface
• XF9128 Video Terminal Logic Controller
• XFRSDVB Reed Solomon Encoder for DVB (Digital Video Broadcast)

All of these cores are available for $99 are contained in the MDS EnCORE CD, available through Insight Electronics in North America, and the Memec Components Group in international locations. In addition to the cores, MDS has packaged Linear Feedback Shift Register and State-Machine reference libraries for Xilinx FPGAs onto the CD. All products are owned and supported by MDS. New cores can be added to the CORE Generator tool at any time by either downloading them from the CoreLINX page on the Xilinx web site, or by contacting third-party partners who have designed cores to plug into the CORE Generator tool. 

About the CORE Generator 

The Xilinx CORE Generator tool, available to all Xilinx customers as part of the Xilinx Alliance Series and Foundation Series software, provides access to flexible, high performance FPGA-based cores. It includes a navigation tree for searching and selecting the cores. Once selected, a user can choose the design flow (schematic, Verilog, or VHDL) and in most cases parameterize the core. 

The CORE Generator tool delivers two types of cores: the first is a fully parameterizable core, in which the input width, output width, and other core specific functions can be modified; the second is a fixed function, in which inputs and outputs are static and the core has been designed for optimal performance. For both types the CORE Generator tool delivers reusable IP which can be seamlessly integrated into selected design capture and simulation flow. 

About Memec Design Services 

Memec Design Services (MDS) is the design and engineering division of the Memec global semiconductor distribution group of companies. The MDS mission is to offer clients a complete suite of programmable logic engineering services, ranging from design evaluations all the way through to complete turnkey device solutions. Using Memec Design Services will reduce the time it takes to get new products to market, improving productivity and profitability for original equipment manufacturers in ever-increasing competitive business arenas. 

In order to complete client designs quickly and efficiently, MDS has invested in the latest programmable logic development tools, supporting many modes of design entry and simulation. Memec Design Services is also a major developer of intellectual property for Xilinx FPGAs. The main benefit of using custom-developed IP cores is that it reduces design development time and cost by up to 50 percent. Memec Design Services offers the very highest standard of design expertise to meet all aspects of our clients’ programmable logic system requirements. 

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 field programmable gate arrays (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, telecommunication, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, high-reliability/military, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx website at www.xilinx.com.