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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rover images available at: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/
XILINX CHIPS LAND ON MARS
Xilinx radiation-tolerant devices play critical role in JPL's
Successful Mars Mission
SAN JOSE, Calif., January 22, 2004 - Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX),
the world's leading programmable logic supplier, today announced
that its radiation tolerant Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs)
are playing a critical role in the successful NASA/Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) Mars exploration mission. Xilinx® radiation-tolerant
Virtex™ FPGAs are being used in the "main brain"
of the rover vehicle, controlling the motors for the wheels, steering,
arms, cameras and various instrumentation, enabling the vehicle
to travel about the planet. Xilinx radiation-tolerant XQVR4000XL™
devices were used to control the crucial pyrotechnic operations
during the multi-phase descent and landing procedure for the Spirit
Rover and will play a similar role in the Opportunity MER rover,
scheduled to land on January 25, 2004.
Designers at JPL chose Xilinx chips for this mission based on the
radiation tolerance, high gate density, on-board RAM, and large
I/O count offered by the Virtex family. On board reprogrammability
of the FPGAs allowed for design changes and updates right up to
launch time, allowing the design team to meet demanding schedules.
According to JPL, this same "on the fly" reprogrammable
feature, inherent to Xilinx FPGAs, will be used for post-launch
reprogramming in its next generation deep space UHF radio. This
radio will be a part of the '05 Mars orbiter, and probably other
missions as well.
"The use of Xilinx products in such extreme and critical conditions
is a testament to the performance and reliability of our technology.
We are pleased to be playing such an important role in this monumental
achievement by JPL," said Howard Bogrow, Xilinx marketing manager
for Aerospace and Defense Products. "This success further underscores
the broad range of applications in which programmability and Xilinx
FPGAs can be used, even in environments that require the utmost
durability."
Xilinx currently supplies Virtex radiation tolerant products up
to one million system gates and total ionizing dose guaranteed to
100 kRads(si). Soon to be announced is a family of Virtex-II products
up to six million system gates and total ionizing dose guaranteed
to 200 kRads(si).
About Xilinx Virtex Series FPGAs
Based on their industry-leading capacity, performance, and cost-effectiveness,
Xilinx Virtex FPGAs are the number one choice of designers worldwide.
The innovative architecture enables integration of both hard and
soft intellectual property (IP), enhanced system memory, and lightning-fast
DSP performance, providing the best platform for advanced digital
designs in the industry. With densities ranging from 40,000 to eight
million-system gates, Xilinx Virtex solutions are empowered by advanced
design tools that reduce development time through fast design entry,
powerful synthesis, smart implementation algorithms, and efficient
verification capabilities.
About Xilinx
Xilinx is the worldwide leader in complete programmable logic
solutions. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.
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