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Xilinx Press Release # 0766FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ALOKA SELECTS XILINX EASYPATH FPGAS FOR Xilinx Virtex-4 SX EasyPath FPGAs chosen for lowest total cost of ownership SAN JOSE, Calif., and TOKYO, Japan, April 26, 2007 - Xilinx Inc., (NASDAQ: XLNX), the world’s leading provider of programmable logic solutions, announced today that Aloka Co., Ltd., the world’s leading pioneer of ultrasound systems for the medical and health science industries, has selected Virtex™-4 SX EasyPath FPGAs for its ProSound α 10 high-end ultrasound diagnostic system. Aloka leveraged high-performance DSP functionality from Xilinx to develop a real-time display for high definition images, incorporating sophisticated features while significantly reducing development lead time. The EasyPath FPGA conversion-free cost reduction path enabled Aloka to ramp to volume production in just 12 weeks following design freeze. Because EasyPath FPGAs are identical to standard FPGAs, Aloka was also able to avoid the high cost of system requalification that would have been required with an ASIC. Each ProSound α 10 system incorporates multiple Xilinx Virtex-4 SX devices using EasyPath technology. The Virtex-4 SX devices are used primarily to transmit/receive focused data in the ProSound α 10. The ultrasound system displays real-time tomographic images of internal organs for accurate diagnosis. Displaying high-resolution ultrasound images requires precise focus of ultrasound beams, which is accomplished through high-speed, high-resolution processing of data received across dozens of channels. To reduce the cost of this functionality, Aloka selected EasyPath FPGAs over an ASIC solution. EasyPath FPGAs were chosen over an ASIC alternative based on their conversion-free cost reduction path that provides the lowest total cost while offering 100 percent support for “Hard IP” including high performance DSP multipliers. The shift from an ASIC approach to a programmable architecture allowed Aloka to integrate a wide range of circuits into a single chip while reducing the number of system components and provided flexibility throughout the design process to refine specifications all the way up to volume production. “We’re now in our 12th year of using Xilinx FPGAs in our products. We’re using several dozens of Xilinx FPGAs and CPLDs in the ProSound α 10 as key components of its electronic circuitry” said Toshiaki Fujiki, Asistant General Manager, R&D Section, Medical System Engineering Dept., Aloka Co., LTD.. “Going forward, we intend to fit even more circuits into the same space to reduce cost and produce smaller form factor products. We look forward to future innovations from Xilinx as they push for even higher system integration.” “Aloka was able to leverage the unique benefits of EasyPath FPGAs to bring the product to market sooner, with higher quality, and lower cost,” said Patrick Dorsey, product line director for EasyPath at Xilinx. “The EasyPath total cost advantage enables customers like Aloka to avoid the high cost and high risk of an ASIC conversion.”
About Aloka’s Ultrasound Systems About Xilinx EasyPath FPGAs About Xilinx - 30 - #0766
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