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: Xilinx Press Release #0268
Xilinx Press Release #0268


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MENTOR GRAPHICS AND XILINX TO DEVELOP CO-VERIFICATION
SOLUTIONS FOR XILINX VIRTEX-II PRO
WILSONVILLE, Ore. and SAN JOSE, Calif., July 22, 2002 -- Mentor
Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT) and Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX)
today announced an agreement to develop a customized extension to
the market-leading Seamless® co-verification environment, optimized
to the needs of designers using the Xilinx® Virtex-II ProTM
Platform FPGA devices.
Under the terms of this agreement, Mentor Graphics and Xilinx will
tailor a co-verification solution to the requirements of designers
embedding the PowerPC 405 Core into Virtex-II Pro devices. The collaboration
result will be a co-verification solution optimized for Xilinx FPGAs
that will significantly ease the adoption of co-verification technology
into the Xilinx design flows.
The Seamless Virtex-II Pro solution builds upon the existing Seamless
co-verification environment and the production-proven, general-purpose
PowerPC 405 Seamless processor support package (PSP). Encapsulating
knowledge of the Virtex-II Pro devices within this co-verification
solution significantly reduces integration time, enabling designers
to be more productive in a shorter amount of time.
“Platform FPGAs with powerful embedded cores afford designers a
level of integration not possible with previous generations of programmable
devices,” said Serge Leef, general manager of the System-on-Chip
Verification Division at Mentor Graphics. “As designers adopt this
methodology they will face some of the same verification challenges
associated with ASIC/SoC design. Seamless has proven time and again
a valuable solution in simplifying and speeding this process.”
Programmable Systems Deliver Rich Feature Set with Integrated
Processor Performance
Embedding processor cores into programmable devices increases the
complexity of verifying such devices. The Seamless Virtex-II Pro
solution addresses these issues and simplifies the process of designing
with programmable systems even further by providing designers with
a virtual prototype of the platform FPGA weeks or months ahead of
the time when the first physical prototypes can be programmed.
Critical to the success of verifying a complex embedded device
is the ability to control and visualize the operation of the system
during the debug phase. Seamless co-verification encompasses the
logic simulation and software debug tools already in use in system
design and verification. Access to these tools within a virtual
environment gives a level of control and observability not achievable
with physical devices, not only for pre-silicon debug, but also
for improved visibility when analyzing problems encountered on physical
prototypes.
“Xilinx is committed to providing our customers with a comprehensive
debug and verification strategy to adequately address the increased
system-level capability of Virtex-II Pro based designs,” said Rich
Sevcik, senior vice president of FPGA products at Xilinx. “As part
of our overall strategy we are pleased to work with Mentor in providing
our customers with support for Seamless, a proven ASIC strength
co-verification tool.”
The Platform FPGA will be part of a complex system that will also
require verification. Often this system will contain other processors
and digital signal processors (DSPs). Seamless offers the most comprehensive
range of processor models with support for all popular embedded
architectures, making Seamless the solution for both the system
and device verification.
Pricing and Availability
Seamless and the PowerPC™ 405 PSP are available now on Solaris,
HP/UX, Linux and AIX platforms. The custom Seamless package for
Xilinx Virtex-II Pro users includes the complete Seamless co-verification
system, the PPC405 PSP and the Virtex-II Pro IP modules and memories.
This package will be available in Q4 2002, under special one-year
term licensing arrangements starting at $24,000. For more
information, including pricing, or to register for free Seamless
workshops and SoC verification seminars, visit our Web site at www.mentor.com/seamless.
About Seamless
Combining the best in embedded software development tools with
logic simulation, the Mentor Graphics® Seamless co-verification
environment delivers high performance co-verification months before
a hardware prototype can be built. The Seamless environment enables
software and hardware development to be carried out in parallel
removing the software from the critical path, and reducing the risk
of hardware prototype iterations resulting from integration errors.
User-controlled optimizations boost performance by isolating the
logic simulator from software-intensive operations such as RTOS
initialization, block memory transfers, and algorithmic routines.
Seamless with the C-Bridge™ tool further boosts performance through
incorporation of C hardware descriptions. Seamless supports all
popular logic simulators and software development environments,
including the Model Technology® ModelSim® environment.
About the Virtex-II Pro Family
The Xilinx Virtex-II Pro FPGA family is the world’s first FPGA
to immerse high-performance IBM PowerPC processors in the Virtex-II
fabric with multi-gigabit serial transceivers to solve high-performance
architectural challenges. Using its patent-pending IP ImmersionTM
technology, Xilinx has integrated these two essential requirements
for next-generation systems, RISC processing and high-speed serial
technology, in the popular Virtex-II fabric, which includes the
advanced Active InterconnectTM, BlockRAM, and clock management
features. This unprecedented level of integration offers systems
designers the highest level of performance with the lowest system
cost available from any programmable solution. The use of behavioral
synthesis technologies enables on-demand architectural synthesis,
which allows partitioning for optimal system performance during
definition, during debug, and after product shipment. Designers
can now get the performance they need without costly and time-consuming
re-designs.
About Mentor Graphics Corporation
Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT) is a world leader in
electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products,
consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most
successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established
in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of
about $600 million and employs approximately 3,500 people worldwide.
Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville,
Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001
Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web
site: www.mentor.com.
About Xilinx Inc.
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) is the worldwide leader in programmable
logic solutions. Additional information about Xilinx is available
at www.xilinx.com.
Mentor Graphics, Model Technology, ModelSim and Seamless
are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. C-Bridge
and Co-Verification Environment are trademarks of Mentor Graphics
Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered
trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.
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#0268
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