New high-speed serial I/O solutions from Xilinx are driving down costs and providing the enabling technology for tomorrow’s ultra-high bandwidth systems.

To accelerate the industry shift from parallel to high-speed serial I/O, last fall Xilinx announced the Serial Tsunami Initiative. Not only is this “tidal wave” of connectivity solutions producing designs that meet today’s bandwidth requirements of 3.125 Gbps, these powerful solutions are taking us forward to tomorrow’s systems of 10 Gbps and beyond.

A Broad Industry Shift

Companies across a wide range of industries are moving to serial I/O solutions to reduce system costs, simplify system design, and provide scalability to meet new bandwidth requirements. Serial solutions will ultimately be deployed in nearly every aspect of every electronic product imaginable from chip-to-chip interfacing, backplane connectivity and system boards, to box-to-box communications.

By mid-2003, the Xilinx suite of serial connectivity solutions will comprise new silicon, intellectual property (IP) cores, design software and methodologies, reference designs, solution boards, and extensive characterization data. These powerful tools will enable system designers to build next-generation products that take full advantage of high-bandwidth connectivity – while still adhering to current parallel I/O standards.

Today Xilinx is the only FPGA vendor shipping platform devices with programmable 3.125 Gbps transceivers and IP cores for key serial interface standards. Used in multiples, the 3.125 Gbps transceivers in the Virtex-II Pro™ FPGA fabric support effective bandwidths through the FPGA of 10 Gbps and above. In the future, the company will deliver serial transceivers capable of 10 Gbps. Used in multiples, these transceivers will support effective bandwidths through the FPGA of more than 40 Gbps.

Benefits of Serial I/O

Analysts agree that the serial I/O “wave” is inevitable, because parallel I/O schemes reach physical limitations at speeds greater than 1 Gbps. Above that speed, parallel I/O can no longer provide a reliable and cost-effective means for keeping signals synchronized.

According to Steve Berry, principal analyst for Electronic Trend Publications, “System architects will experience dramatic improvements in bandwidth, pin-count, power, and signal integrity” with serial I/O solutions.

Among the many advantages of serial I/O-based designs over traditional parallel implementations are:

• Fewer device pins
• Reduced board space requirements
• Fewer printed circuit board (PCB) layers
• Easier layout of the PCB
• Smaller connectors
• Lower electro-magnetic interference (EMI)
• Better noise immunity.

Serial Tsunami Is Here

Already, Xilinx has made significant inroads in delivering connectivity solutions as part of its Serial Tsunami Initiative, including:

• The first Platform FPGA with embedded IBM PowerPC™ microprocessor and multi-gigabit serial interfaces: the Virtex-II Pro FPGA
• First to market with proven IP cores supporting key serial connectivity standards, such as Real-PCI™ Express and 1/10 Gbps Ethernet (XAUI)
• Proven interoperability through demonstrations at major industry forums, such as PCI Express at the Intel Developers’ Forum
• Unmatched support for high-speed parallel connectivity, helping companies address legacy system I/O needs during transition from parallel to serial technology
• Aurora, the new lightweight link-layer protocol, along with reference design
• Active leadership role in key industry standards organizations, including PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group, Serial RapidIO Trade Association, Network Processor Forum, PCI-Special Interest Group, Optical Internetworking Forum, and others
• CMOS mixed-signal transceiver technology.

Driving Serial I/O

The origin of the Serial Tsunami Initiative goes back to when Xilinx acquired RocketChips, Inc. in 2000. RocketChips brought with it R&D expertise in ultra-high- speed CMOS mixed-signal transceiver technology, essential for the successful deployment of serial connectivity solutions. Today, a dedicated team within the Communication Technology Division (CTD) is wholly focused on R&D projects aimed at driving the Serial Tsunami vision forward.

Through the Serial Tsunami Initiative, Xilinx is providing solutions for a wide range of serial system architectures in the markets served by Xilinx Platform FPGAs, including networking, telecommunications, and enterprise storage.

Sales from these solutions are expected to reach a total of more than $1.7 billion USD in 2005, according to the 2002 “Switching & Routing and Optical Transport Semiconductors” report from RHK, and the 2002 “Advanced Bus and Interface Markets and Trends” report from Electronic Trend Publications.

In addition to being an active participant in the industry bodies driving serial technology standards, Xilinx is leveraging its extensive network of “ecosystem” partners (EDA, reference design, IP, among others) to guarantee interoperability and access to the latest technology and design tools.

Serial Solution Elements

Serial solutions comprise the following:

• Serial backplane transceivers (single and quad 3.125 Gbps transceivers)
• Telecom transceivers (SONET OC-48 and OC-192)
• Enterprise storage transceivers (Fibre Channel, Ethernet)
• Networking transceivers (Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gb Ethernet, and InfiniBand™).

Conclusion

Although it’s widely accepted that high-speed serial I/O schemes deliver significant benefits over traditional parallel I/O methods, until now designers have faced significant challenges:

• Lack of flexible, cost-effective, general purpose, serial I/O silicon support
• A complex array of emerging connectivity standards
• No clear path for moving from parallel to serial while maintaining support for legacy systems.

Increasingly, Xilinx Platform FPGAs are providing the answers, helping companies move from parallel to serial connectivity with a combination of performance, intellectual property cores, functionality, and programmability. Thanks to our programmability and support of multiple parallel and serial standards, Xilinx ICs are unique in their ability to immediately adapt to meet emerging standards and specifications.

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