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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
XILINX FPGA PROCESSOR SOLUTIONS DELIVER ORDER
OF MAGNITUDE ADVANTAGE FOR EMBEDDED SYSTEMS DESIGNERS
Independent results reaffirm lead for the industry's most comprehensive
FPGA portfolio of 32-bit embedded processing solutions
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 18, 2004 - Xilinx, Inc., (NASDAQ: XLNX) continues
its FPGA performance lead in real design applications with the announcement
of independent third-party test results for the 32-bit MicroBlaze
processor platform running Accelerated Technology's Nucleus real-time
operating system (RTOS). The Accelerated Technology (AT) tests reaffirm
the order of magnitude performance advantage and complete development
environment supported by Xilinx's spectrum of embedded processor
solutions.
"The combination of our familiar soft and hard RISC processor
cores, coupled with industry standard tools such as the Nucleus
RTOS, has demonstrated a significant performance advantage with
our solutions," said Rich Sevcik, executive vice president
at Xilinx "The range of our processor solutions and support
is a testament to our commitment to the vast array of real applications
in the embedded processing arena, and enables customers to select
the optimum performance and price points for their embedded processing
needs."
Third Party Real-Time Results
The Xilinx processor solution consistently delivered high performance
with the AT RTOS suite of tests (results available upon request
through AT). Two of the key evaluation metrics of processor RTOS
performance are interrupt latency and context switch times.
The latest results from the Nucleus real-time OS environment operating
on a conservative 100Mhz MicroBlaze Virtex-II Pro™ FPGA system
delivered an interrupt latency result that is orders of magnitude
improved over competitive soft processor offerings. The benefit
of this fast interrupt response is accelerated system speed for
servicing a requested event. In addition, the MicroBlaze platform's
performance for context switching operations allows faster access
to routines or tasks waiting to be serviced.
"The recent Xilinx processor results compared quite favorably
to any embedded processor offering that we have tested with the
Nucleus RTOS test suite," said Robert Day, director of marketing
at Accelerated Technology, Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics.
"These numbers are impressive for not only embedded FPGA-based
processor solutions, but any commercial embedded processor solution."
Xilinx Processing Commitment
In the 32-bit processor arena, one architecture does not fit all.
The choice of processor architecture is driven by performance, feature,
cost and software requirements of the system design. Processor technology
roadmaps that ensure backward compatibility are also a key factor
in processor selection.
For feature rich and flexible requirements, the MicroBlaze soft
core is a standard, powerful 32-bit RISC processor optimized for
Xilinx FPGA devices. Base designs using a traditional single processor
approach deliver over 125 Dhrystone MIPS (DMIPS) at 150 MHz in the
Virtex-II Pro FPGA or 68 DMIPS at 85 MHz in the cost effective Spartan-3
FPGA.
For even higher performance requirements, the immersed 32-bit PowerPC
core in the Virtex-II family of platform FPGAs delivers over five
times the DMIPS performance of competitive soft processor cores.
Operating at 450MHz, the 32-bit PowerPC core delivers over 680 DMIPS
with the Virtex-II Pro FPGA. The overall performance comes with
minimal cost as processor integration in Virtex-II FPGAs simplifies
design and consumes very little silicon area. An efficient design
uses less than two percent of a Xilinx 2VP50 device for example.
Complete Development Environment
Xilinx's Platform Studio provides a common fully integrated hardware/software
development environment that supports the complete range of Xilinx's
processor solutions. Included in the Xilinx Embedded Development
Kit (EDK), the scalable Platform Studio enables designers to easily
develop, integrate and debug their entire embedded system.
In addition, Xilinx provides an extensive peripheral library (over
two hundred intellectual property cores), reference designs, development
boards, internal and third party provided tools, and the most widely
used operating systems. A variety of embedded design services, training
and support are also available from Xilinx to further ensure first-time
design success with its processing solutions.
The Nucleus PLUS RTOS provides an extensive set of real-time services
including task control, task communication, task synchronization,
memory management, and programmable timers that has been proven
in thousands of applications worldwide. For more information on
AT and the complete family of Nucleus products, visit http://www.acceleratedtechnology.com.
About Xilinx
Xilinx is the worldwide leader in complete programmable logic
solutions. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.
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