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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
XILINX AND MERCURY COMPUTER SYSTEMS DEMONSTRATE
INTEROPERABLE SERIAL RAPIDIO SOLUTIONS ON AN ATCA PLATFORM
Product Availability Drives Quick Adoption of
the Serial RapidIO Protocol into ATCA Backplanes
FRANKFURT, Germany, September 28, 2004 - At Euro Smart Network
Developer Forum, Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) and Mercury Computer
Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY) today demonstrated the successful interoperability
between RapidIO solutions from Xilinx and Mercury Computer Systems
using Ensemble ATCA serial RapidIO development platform. This industry-first
demonstration will enable designers to build next generation RapidIO
based systems with confidence using leading products available today,
including the Xilinx RapidIO LogiCORE™ IP Core and ATCA line
card designed for the Virtex-II Pro™ FPGA and Freescale's PowerQUICC
III communications processor.
"Interoperability testing and the availability of system level
platforms are essential elements in building a strong RapidIO ecosystem,"
said Iain Scott, president of the RapidIO Trade Association (a key
sponsor of Euro SNDF). "In addition, designers need a standards-based
prototyping platform to accelerate the development of enhanced control
and data plane processing for the next generation of imaging, wired
and wireless communications and applications requiring increased
processing power with lower system cost."
"The Ensemble platform was designed to enable Telecom OEMs
to evaluate RapidIO for cost reduction and time-to-market acceleration,"
said Mark Skalabrin, vice president and general manager, OEM Solutions
Group, Mercury Computer Systems. "The ease in which the Xilinx
ATCA line card was implemented into this platform is a testimony
to the system-level design of the Ensemble platform as well as the
robustness of the Mercury and Xilinx RapidIO IP and the RapidIO
specification."
According to Mark Aaldering, vice president of the IP Solutions
and Embedded Processing Divisions at Xilinx, "The interoperability
demonstration of the Xilinx RapidIO solution in Mercury's Ensemble
ATCA environment with the industry leading PowerQUICC III communications
processor allows architects to jump start their system design. The
immediate availability of our ATCA design kit with a Virtex-II Pro
based line card, RapidIO reference designs, test and demonstration
programs, as well as schematic and board layout can easily save
six months to years in engineering efforts over the lifetime of
a product."
Drilling Down on the Demonstration
Featured during the keynote address of Freescale's Euro Smart Network
Developers Forum 2004 in Frankfurt, Germany, the backbone of the
demonstration highlighted Ensemble, a multipoint to multipoint (full
mesh) architecture. Also highlighted were two RapidIO endpoints,
including the Freescale PowerQUIIC III processor and the Xilinx
Virtex-II Pro FPGA, incorporating two 1-lane Serial RapidIO Endpoint
LogiCOREs switched over RapidIO RapidIO packets are generated from
an application running on the PowerQUICC III with a Parallel RapidIO
port. The packets are translated from a Parallel to Serial RapidIO
to be sent over the ATCA backplane to the Xilinx ATCA line card.
The Virtex-II Pro consumes the packets and implements a Serial RapidIO
extender/repeater function and transmits the packets to the PowerQUICC
III to display status and statistic information.
About Ensemble
Ensemble from Mercury Computer Systems is a serial RapidIO®
Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (AdvancedTCA®) development
system that leverages industry standards including the high-bandwidth,
scalable serial RapidIO switch fabric and AdvancedTCA ("ATCA
") PICMG 3.5 spec - that defines RapidIO on ATCA - to enable
telecom equipment manufacturers to start their next-generation infrastructure
designs. The interoperability between these products ensures high-speed
telecommunication designers of electrical components, protocol compliance
between the various solutions.
About the Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture
The ATCA platform standard was developed through the PCI Industrial
Computer Manufacturers Group to address the requirements of next-generation
applications that could not be served by the CompactPCI standard
or proprietary solutions. The prime objectives of the ATCA are to
provide the broad benefits of a standardized, yet scalable platform
to addresses the key challenges of next generation systems with
sufficient flexibility to be used across a broad class of applications
without imposing constraints that might impact product differentiation.
About Mercury Computer Systems
Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY) is the leading provider
of high-performance embedded, real-time digital signal and image
processing computer systems. Mercury's products play a critical
role in a wide range of applications, transforming sensor data to
information for analysis and interpretation. In military reconnaissance
and surveillance platforms the Company's systems process real-time
radar, sonar, and signals intelligence data. Mercury's systems are
also used in state-of-the-art medical diagnostic imaging devices
including MRI, CT, PET, and digital X-ray, and in semiconductor
imaging applications including photomask generation and wafer inspection.
Mercury provides advanced 3D image processing and visualization
software and optimized systems to diverse end markets including
life sciences, geosciences, and simulation. The Company also develops
radio frequency (RF) products for enhanced communications capabilities
in military and commercial applications. Based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts,
Mercury serves customers in North America, Europe and Asia through
its direct sales force and a network of subsidiaries and distributors.
Visit Mercury on the web at www.mc.com.
About Xilinx
Xilinx is the worldwide leader in complete programmable logic
solutions. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.
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# 04106
Forward Looking Safe-Harbor Statement
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