|
|
||
 |
About Xilinx | |
 |
||
|
Press Room | |
|
||
| Press Releases | ||
|
||
|
|
Press Kits |
|
||
|
|
Xilinx in the News |
|
||
|
|
Management Photos |
|
||
|
|
Product Photos |
|
||
|
|
Glossary of Terms |
|
||
|
Worldwide Media Contacts | |
|
||
| Home
: Company Info & Press : Press
Room : Press Releases
: Xilinx Press Release #0261
Xilinx Press Release #0261
XILINX AND COWARE ANNOUNCE COLLABORATION FOR SYSTEM-LEVEL DESIGN OF VIRTEX-II PRO FPGAs Breakthrough Hardware/Software Co-Design Flow CoWare to Demonstrate Advanced Design Environments
SAN JOSE/SANTA CLARA, Calif.––April 8, 2002––Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX), and CoWareTM, Inc. today announced a collaboration to jointly develop a system-level design flow for XilinxÒ FPGAs. With this design flow, Xilinx users can now take full advantage of the software and hardware programmability of the new Xilinx Virtex-II ProTM FPGAs with the embedded PowerPCTM 405 processor, as well as for any Xilinx Virtex-IITM series FPGAs with the soft MicroBlazeTM processor core. A demonstration of this new technology can be seen at Programmable World 2002 (www.xilinx.com/pw2002). The new design flow will be based on the proven CoWare N2CTM system-level design software, which is used by major systems and semiconductor companies to speed the design of complex systems-on-chip (SoC). Now, for the first time, this proven software will be available to design teams of Xilinx devices and will be linked directly to the familiar Xilinx FPGA tools. “The CoWare N2C software is important to helping our customers realize the benefits of architectural exploration that greatly increases design flexibility and time to market,” stated Rich Sevcik, senior vice president of the FPGA products at Xilinx. “The CoWare N2C methods and tools can drastically reduce overall design time of Virtex-II Pro FPGA-based systems.” CoWare CEO Alan Naumann explained, “The Xilinx Platform FPGAs are an innovative and new solution for SoC and embedded systems designers with intense time-to-market requirements. Our alliance with Xilinx will simplify and speed the develop-ment process of these time-critical designs and encourage many designers to use Platform FPGAs to avoid the expense and time delay required to produce custom silicon. We are pleased to have been selected as Xilinx’s EDA partner in this exciting new area.” The CoWare N2C System-Level Methodology The CoWare N2C software provides a complete system-level methodology that can be employed by system architects, hardware designers and software developers. System architects can explore different architectures and hardware/software partitions to make sure their overall design is the best possible. Software and firmware developers can then use this high-level system model to further develop the software while hardware engineers are refining the high-level dedicated hardware blocks to RTL for logic synthesis. Full, at-speed final verification can then be done by running the software on the hardware-programmed FPGA. CoWare N2C includes several capabilities that speed the hardware and software refinement and verification processes. Speeding the Design Process Together, Xilinx and CoWare will speed the design process in several ways. First, the overall CoWare design methodology provides an organized, time-proven way to speed the design process, making sure the hardware works effectively with the software from the start of the design process. Second, CoWare N2C includes exclusive Interface SynthesisTM technology that automates the design of hardware-software interfaces and hardware-bus interfaces. This significantly accelerates the design process by not only eliminating the need for the designers to understand the details of these interfaces, but, more importantly, they don’t need to spend the time designing them. Third, the Xilinx Platform FPGAs allow embedded software designers to get earlier access to the target hardware through a highly optimized, upgradeable IC without the extreme up-front cost and risk of a custom circuit. About Virtex-II Pro Family The Xilinx Virtex-II ProTM 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 CoWare As the leading supplier of tools for system-level electronic design automation (EDA), CoWare, Inc. provides a platform-based design methodology that can cut system-on-a-chip (SoC) design time in half. CoWare is driving the industry towards a unifying system design language as a founder and leader of SystemC. The CoWare software is employed by major systems, IP and semiconductor companies including Alcatel, ARM, Canon, Fujitsu, IBM, InterDigital, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sanyo, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Tensilica, Toshiba, and Xilinx. CoWare was recognized as the 5th fastest-growing private company in Silicon Valley in 2000(1). For more information, visit www.CoWare.com. About Xilinx Xilinx is the leading supplier of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, aerospace, defense, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com. # # # CoWare, CoWare N2C and Interface Synthesis are trademarks
of CoWare, Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered
trademarks or service marks of their respective companies. The PowerPC
trademark pertains only to the PowerPC 405 processor designed by
IBM and not to any other part of Xilinx FPGAs. The PowerPC name
and logo are registered trademarks of IBM Corp. and are used under
license therefrom. #0261
|
|||||||||||||||
