MICROELECTRONIC SYSTEMS NEWS
FILENUMBER: 9819
BEGIN_KEYWORDS
XILINX FPGA
END_KEYWORDS
DATE: July 1998
TITLE: XILINX BOARDS AND CORES
=======================================================================
Xilinx is introducing "Xilinx PCI" and its LogiCORE PCI32 Spartan cores.
The PCI cores are included in a new PCI32 design kit with a PCI prototyping
board from Virtual Computer Corp., (VCC), plus reference drivers for Windows
95/98/NT and full-featured driver development tools from Vireo Software, Inc.
The design kit also includes several reusable PCI bridge design examples with
FIFOs and DMA controllers.
The Xilinx PCI solution lowers the system cost -- as much as $15 per board --
and eradicates the integration limitations seen in standard chip solutions.
Moreover, it provides the flexibility, ease-of-use, and time-to-market
benefits necessary to successfully design a PCI system that is fully compliant
with the challenging PCI specification. Xilinx offers the only single FPGA
solution to integrate a PCI interface, FIFOs and user-logic, priced below
standard PCI chips.
PCI Interface, FIFOs, and User-Logic for $19
The new LogiCORE PCI32 core is a fully compliant 32-bit, 33 MHz PCI Master
and Slave interface designed for the Spartan family. Designers can implement
the PCI core, one or more high-speed FIFOs through the Xilinx SelectRAM feature,
and the user logic, on the same chip. The PCI core occupies about 45 percent
of a 30,000 gate Spartan device, XCS30, leaving more than 15,000 system gates
for FIFOs and application-specific logic. The price for the PCI-compatible
version of the XCS30 is $19 in high-volume. Hence, the silicon cost for the
PCI interface is only $8.55.
Spartan PCI On-chip Power Gates left for Device Silicon Cost for
Device Core FIFOs user design Cost* PCI Interface
XCS30-4 Yes Yes 5 V >15,000 $19 $8.55
PQ208
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
XCS40-4 Yes Yes 5 V >25,000 $29 $10.88
PQ208
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
XCS30XL-4 Yes Yes 3.3 V >15,000 $16 $7.20
PQ208
*25K units, second half of 1998. The solution also available in PQ240
package
Partnership with VCC and Vireo Software
To further reduce learning curves and development time, Xilinx has formed
partnerships with VCC and Vireo Software to offer a complete PCI32 design kit:
-LogiCORE PCI32 interfaces for Spartan and XC4000 FPGAs
-HotPCI Spartan prototyping board from VCC
-Reference drivers for Windows 95/98/NT from Vireo
-Full-featured Driver::Works and VtoolsD device driver tools from Vireo Software
(development license)
-A $200 discount voucher towards the purchase of an unrestricted license from Vireo
-Reusable PCI bridge design examples in VHDL and Verilog
-The HotPCI prototyping board from VCC includes one XCS40-4 PQ240 Spartan device,
512 KB of SRAM and 128K of Flash memory, and can be expanded with various modules
through two mezzanine connectors. The board can also be reconfigured from the PCI
bus to work as a reconfigurable computing platform.
-Driver::Works and VtoolsD driver development tools from Vireo Software allow
the designer to change the accompanying example drivers or develop drivers
from scratch. An unlimited production license is available from Vireo Software.
-The Xilinx LogiCORE PCI32 cores implement the recently announced Smart-IP
technology and deliver a highly predictable implementation with guaranteed timing.
The cores are easily configured and downloaded together with HDL testbenches and
simulation models from the Xilinx web site.
License cost and availability
The LogiCORE PCI32 4000 (V2.0) core, for the XC4000 FPGA family is available now.
The PCI32 Design Kit and the LogiCORE PCI32 Spartan core will be available in
June 1998. All LogiCORE PCI products are configured and downloaded from the Xilinx
web site at:
PCI
The price for the Xilinx PCI32 Design Kit is $8,995.
XSTEND FOR XS40 AND XS95 BOARDS:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
XESS Corp. and Xilinx have co-developed the XSTEND board, an optional
but attractive extension for the XS40 and XS95 boards. This extends
the XS40 & XS95 to include DSP capabilities; VGA, keyboard and mouse
interfaces; LEDs; switches; and other useful features. This board is
available for purchase only through XESS Corp. for $99 USD. Currently
it is available in small quantities, with high volume availability in
August.
The XS40 + XSTEND boards together are also designed for compatibility with
designs for the older UW-FPGABOARD (the Xilinx board with the XC3020A and
the XC4000E FPGAs).
The XStend idea is simple - take your XS40 or the XS95 boards, insert them into
the XSTEND board, and you instantly have A/D & D/A with audio-CD stereo
input/output jacks, direct VGA output, PS/2 mouse or keyboard inputs, a
prototyping area, switches, push buttons, LEDs, and more.
Taken together with Xilinx's CORE Generator, it is also now very easy to
develop complex and extremely high performance DSP designs in literally
a couple of minutes. (Matlab users can even generate DSP filter
coefficients and easily upload them into a DSP design using the
Xilinx Core Generator!)
HOT II PCI:
- - - - - - - -
Xilinx and Virtual Computer Corp. recently announced the new Hot II PCI
developers board. It features
- Xilinx XC4000 FPGAs (Spartan XCS40 or XC4062XLT)
- Xilinx PCI LogiCore used to interface to the PCI bus
- Bus connectors to upgrade to 1,000,000 gate Virtex FPGA daughtercards
in the future. Because of the capabilities of Virtex, we believe this
board will also become a nice platform for dynamically reconfigurable
logic research and development.
- Bus connectors to stack a through-hole prototyping board
Standard version - The Hot II PCI with XCS40-4, 128KB Config. Flash, 128KB Config. RAM,
1MB SRAM lists for $695.00. If budget is tight, the Xilinx University
Program can also accept proposals for donations of the FPGA components
to bring that price down to $500.00.
Expanded version - The Hot II PCI with XC4062XL-1, 2MB Config. Flash, 512KB Config. RAM,
4MB SRAM lists for $2,995.00. If budget is tight, the Xilinx University
Program can also accept proposals for donations of the FPGA components to
bring that price down to $1,200.00 !
Pricing does not including tax, handling, or shipping. Contact VCC for
actual quote and availability by accessing
VCC.
=======================================================================
dbouldin@utk.edu
Return to MSN Home Page