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XILINX LAUNCHES NEW ERA OF DIGITAL DESIGN IN AEROSPACE AND
DEFENSE WITH INTRODUCTION OF QPRO VIRTEX-II FAMILY
Up to six million gate radiation-tolerant Platform FPGA
family drives next-generation, mission-critical
Space,
Avionics and Defense applications
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 10, 2004 - Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX), the
world leader in programmable logic solutions, today announced the
immediate availability of its QPRO Virtex-II radiation-tolerant
reconfigurable Platform FPGA family. Offering densities of up to
six million system gates and high performance system features such
as high performance embedded block RAM, embedded multipliers,
Digital Clock Manager, and integrated I/O termination (XCITE), the
QPRO Virtex-II family leads the industry in offering high density,
high performance reconfigurable solutions specifically designed for
mission-critical applications in aerospace and defense.
Xilinx provides the industry's only line of reconfigurable
solutions for these high integrity applications. Used in the "main
brain" of the Mars Rover vehicles, the on-board reprogrammability
of Xilinx previous-generation QPRO radiation-tolerant FPGAs allowed
for design changes and updates right up to launch time, allowing
the JPL design team to meet demanding schedules. According to JPL,
this same "on the fly" reprogrammability will be used for
post-launch reprogramming in its next generation deep space UHF
radio on the '05 Mars orbiter. Because Xilinx chips can literally
change their personality, designers have the ability to fix
hardware problems or download new features from a remote
location.
"Reconfigurablity plays a key role in addressing three key
industry requirements - program re-use, technology insertion and a
superior alternative to mask-programmed ASICs and
one-time-programmable FPGAs. Both the aerospace and defense
communities have embraced Xilinx QPRO technology for a wide range
of applications, including mission-critical airborne and space
systems," stated Rick Padovani, general manager of the Aerospace
and Defense division at Xilinx. "By combining radiation-tolerance
with the flexibility and high-performance features of our Virtex-II
FPGAs, we're enabling a whole new range of cost effective
applications and capabilities for our customers."
Addressing Industry Challenges
Xilinx has maintained an uninterrupted 15-year commitment to the
Aerospace and Defense market and continues to expand both its
product portfolio and investment in the industry by driving
industry consortia such as the Single Events Consortium (SEE).
Formed in 2002 by the Xilinx in cooperation with NASA Jet
Propulsion Laboratory and experts from the industry, government and
academia, the SEE consortia focuses on the test and
characterization of radiation effects for reconfigurable FPGAs.
Through their efforts, the effectiveness of innovative radiation
mitigation techniques such as Configuration Scrubbing and Triple
Mode Redundancy have been evaluated and documented enabling the
Aerospace and Defense market to derive the significant benefits of
reconfigurable logic.
Transformational programs currently in development such as
Transformational Communications, Software Defined Radio (SDR) and
the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will greatly benefit from the
high-density and rich feature set of the Virtex-II QPRO family.
These programs demand a very agile, high performance reprogrammable
platform capable of high-performance packet processing and DSP. As
such, they are a great match for the newly introduced Virtex-II
QPRO family.
Proven Solution Offers Superior Benefits
Because the QPRO Virtex-II family is based on the highly successful
Virtex architecture, designers will benefit from the complete suite
of design solutions including the broadest library available of
proven connectivity IP, system solution boards, and development
platforms. Well-established partnerships and certified
interoperability with key industry standards yields a design
ecosystem that is unparalleled in the industry.
The QPRO Virtex-II family extends beyond increased gate density
by offering high-performance I/O signaling technology supporting up
to 840 MBPS in both plastic and ceramic packages while offering up
to 1104 user I/O. In addition, the QPRO Virtex-II family includes
up to 144 independent blocks of 18Kbit embedded memory - ideal for
a wide range of high-performance applications ranging from system
interfacing and local packet buffering, to high performance DSP
applications. The QPRO Virtex-II also offers superior DSP
performance through the integration of up to 144 high performance
Multipliers. By combining such high-performance features with a
flexible fabric, the Virtex-II QPRO devices address many of today's
industry challenges.
Online Design Resource
Also launched today is the newest segment of the Xilinx eSP web
portal dedicated specifically to the design and development of
Aerospace and Defense applications. The portal provides a
comprehensive resource for system designers, delivering a powerful
array of solutions and information in a single location. Visit www.xilinx.com/esp/aero_defense/
for more information.
Pricing and Availability
Xilinx QPRO Virtex-II devices are available in a range of grades in
plastic and ceramic packages. Space grades are guaranteed for total
ionizing dose (TID) up to 200K Rad (si) and latch up immune to Let
>100 MeV-cm2/mg., Xilinx Virtex-II QPRO devices are available
now. Pricing for the QPRO Virtex-II devices start at $318 and
$2,655 for radiation tolerant space grade devices in quantities of
100. Various processing options are available.
About Xilinx
Xilinx is the worldwide leader in complete programmable logic
solutions. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.
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