SAN JOSE, Calif., February 19, 2002—Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) today announced the availability of its new version 4.2i Integrated Software Environment (ISE). Benchmarks of customer and IP core designs show ISE 4.2i delivers 70 percent faster clock speeds on high-density next-generation Virtex®-II designs than the nearest competitive offering with available silicon. The new release offers ProActive Timing Closure technology delivering over 300 MHz design speeds, up to 3.125 gigabits per second I/O speeds, and partial reconfigurability—a first for the programmable logic industry. Additionally, the version includes enhancements to XPower thermal analysis software, and ModelSim Xilinx Edition-II, based on the Model Technology^TM 5.5e family of HDL simulators.

Largest lead ever over competition in performance

ISE 4.2i also supports the new Virtex-II “dash 6” (-6) speed grade design files, available today, making today’s high-density Virtex-II designs 55 percent faster and an average 45 percent faster for all design densities. For all design densities in the next-generation Virtex-II system-level FPGA series, Xilinx 4.2i ISE users will average 66 percent faster design performance. ISE 4.2i robust new feature set enable the highest-performance available in programmable logic. Xilinx customers can drive their products at the fastest design speeds available for programmable logic and get the design assistance needed to make their high-speed I/O as fast and efficient as possible.

"The demands of our design were pushing the limits of development software. But in August 2001, Xilinx redefined software performance  with the introduction of the new Integrated Software Environment (ISE)," said Mr. Philippe Merriaux, hardware project leader at Alcatel. "It was a quantum leap over version 3.1i, adding features to proactively solve timing bottlenecks and enabling Virtex-II designs to target clock speeds greater than 300 MHz."

“I just installed Xilinx ISE software on a brand new 1.9 GHz P4 and it is running great!  Our last compile met timing and only took about an hour for place and route. With ISE v3.3 on our 1.2GHz Athlon, our compiles would take 3+ hours,” said Ray Macika at Ikadega.

 “ISE 4.2i delivers unparalleled design speeds coupled with the fastest programmable logic devices available,” said Rich Sevcik, Xilinx senior vice president of FPGA Products. “Xilinx is delivering the only programmable logic solution that lets designers reach 300+ MHz clock speeds with I/O speeds of up to 3.125 gigabits per second.”

High-Speed Design Capabilities

With this latest version of ISE, designers can start designing today for I/O speeds of up to 3.125 gigabits per second—the new design demand for signal speeds. ISE 4.2i can implement 3.125 gigabits per second in all the floorplanning, pin planning, and implementation tools. The synthesis tools can optimize paths to and from the high-speed serial channels—a first in programmable logic. In addition, the ISE 4.2i implementation libraries contain 1-, 2- and 4-byte versions of all the high-speed protocols supported by Xilinx; customers can simply drop them in their HDL source code.

Xilinx ISE software addresses special analysis problems in board design introduced by 3.125 gigabits per second performance. Pin simulation models in IBIS format, which are available now and will soon be available in HSpice format for the gigabit serial channels, help the board designer accurately model the effects of the FPGA on the printed circuit board.

Partial Reconfigurability in Modular Design

ISE 4.2i introduces partial reconfigurability as another new technology. Enabled through the modular design software option for ISE, partial reconfigurability allows part of an FPGA to be re-programmed while the FPGA is running. With this new capability customers don’t have to take their product off-line to upgrade a portion of the FPGA, even while the board is running in the field. Service calls and field support costs are reduced, and product life is extended.

Software Leadership

Other new features in ISE 4.2i enable the highest-performance available in programmable logic. Based on ProActive Timing Closure technology, ISE 4.2i delivers design speeds of over 300 MHz, with I/O speeds of up to 3.125 gigabits per second. ISE 4.2i also includes streamlined enhancements to XPower thermal analysis software, and ModelSim Xilinx Edition-II, based on the Model Technology 5.5e family of HDL simulators.

Xilinx is offering a free technical lecture available 24x7 worldwide which provides an overview of the new features and new tools added to ISE 4.2i. The lecture called What's New in ISE 4.2i is available on your desktop as a recorded E-Learning lecture and can be accessed at 
www.xilinx.com/support/training/north-america-home-page.htm

Price, platform and availability

The ISE Series of design tools provide architecture-specific design support for all Xilinx product families including the recently announced Spartan-IIE and CoolRunner-II devices, Spartan and Virtex series, and the Virtex-II platform FPGAs, plus the XC9500TM and CoolRunner CPLDs. ISE also comes ready to support the next generation Virtex-II device family, coming later this year. ISE software supports Windows98, Windows 2000, and Windows NT; and Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Windows, and ISE Foundation and ISE Alliance also support Solaris and Linux. All in-maintenance Xilinx customers will receive their ISE upgrade with shipments beginning in late February 28. Pricing for the Foundation Series configuration starts at $695. The 4.2i version of ISE WebPACK will be available for free download in March of 2002. For more details on how Xilinx simplifies the Programmable Logic design process visit www.xilinx.com/ise42i.

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the leading supplier of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as intellectual property cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquarters in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to significantly reduce the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunication, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, high-reliability/military, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com.