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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
XILINX UNVEILS FRAMEWORK FOR INTERACTIVE WEB-BASED PLD DESIGN
Java-based programming standard for ISP and on-line design evaluation kick off initiative
SAN JOSE, Calif., September 9, 1998 -- Xilinx, Inc., (NASDAQ:XLNX),
today announced its Silicon
Xpresso initiative, a broad company program to step up delivery of
Internet and JavaTM -based applications to customers who design
with programmable logic devices (PLDs). The first element of the Silicon
Xpresso initiative is a new Java application programming interface (API)
for the boundary-scan market from Sun
Microsystems for programming, testing and debugging PLDs from any
supplier. Xilinx has entered into an agreement to license Sun's Java Card
technology, which will serve as the foundation for the API. The initiative
also includes the Xilinx WebFitter tool, software that allows customers to
do on-line design evaluation over the Internet on a remote server.
"Customers actively use the Xilinx Web site today to get software
updates, technical support, product information and applications notes,"
said Xilinx president and CEO Wim Roelandts. "We believe it's time to move
to the next level and develop interactive solutions for the PLD
marketplace. Xilinx already provides ready-to-use intellectual property
over the Web with our CORE Generator tool, which is written in the Java
programming language. The Java API for the boundary-scan market and the
WebFitter tool further demonstrate that the Internet is an ideal
infrastructure to deliver real-time programmable logic solutions to
customers regardless of their location. We fully intend to expand the
Silicon Xpresso initiative to include other Web-based solutions that will
increase design flexibility and reduce time to market for our
customers."
"Xilinx is to be congratulated for taking the lead in supporting the
Java API for the boundary-scan market and for its efforts in building an
industry around PLD and boundary-scan standards based on Java technology,"
said Bud Tribble, vice president of Architecture and Technology, Sun
Microsystems' Consumer and Embedded. "We believe that Java's 'Write Once,
Run Anywhere'TM feature is ideal for creating a
standard software architecture for the programmable logic market.
Xilinx plans to support the newly announced Java API for the
boundary-scan market. The Java API will fully complement the IEEE 1149.1
(JTAG) boundary-scan standard while offering manufacturers of electronic
equipment the flexibility and power that customers need in an increasingly
networked environment. The Java API for boundary-scan will simplify the
current work flow for in-system programming (ISP), which now requires that
device-dependent routines be translated, compiled and chained for each
vendor's PLDs to ensure they are mounted properly and connected to other
components according to design.
"Java technology provides a common, third-party programming language
for ISP programmable logic devices that will enable PLD-based systems to
be updated over the Internet," said Evert Wolsheimer, vice president and
general manager of the Xilinx CPLD business unit. "It is an open standard
that promises to solve complex device programming issues for our
customers."
The Java API for the boundary-scan market will be shepherded through
the Sun Microsystems open development process and will be open to all
companies interested in the field of programmable logic. The Java API for
boundary-scan will extend the Java platform's 'Write Once, Run Anywhere'
capability to the field of programmable logic. Any PLD supplier, as well
as manufacturers of automated test equipment and device programmers and
JTAG software developers, can deploy it. In addition, it can be used with
embedded processors to control board-level functions.
The Xilinx roll out of the Silicon Xpresso initiative also includes the
WebFitter tool, productivity software that permits customers anywhere in
the world to do on-line fitting of complex programmable logic device
(CPLD) designs via a remote server.
In addition, the WebFitter software produces complete on-line reports
for design evaluation, and it eliminates the need for designers to load
software or manage updates and licenses, because the latest Xilinx tools
always reside on the Xilinx Web site.
The WebFitter tool accepts design files for Xilinx XC9500 CPLDs and
supports VHDL, Verilog, ABEL, XNF or EDIF input formats. Designers will
access the WebFitter tool from the Xilinx Web site and work from a
graphical user interface integrated with the web browser.
After completing a front-end design on a PC or workstation, users
simply enter their email address, attach their design file and send it to
the Xilinx server for compilation. Shortly after, a return email provides
a complete fitter report and a bitstream to implement the design in the
CPLD.
A number of Xilinx sales and design partners are currently using a beta
version of the WebFitter software. Xilinx plans to make it publicly
available on its Web home page next quarter.
Xilinx is the leading innovator 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
commands more than half of the world market for these devices today.
Xilinx solutions enable customers to significantly reduce the time
required to develop products for the computer, peripheral,
telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation,
high-reliability/military, and consumer markets. For more information,
visit the Xilinx Web site at http://www.xilinx.com/index.shtml.
—30—
Xilinx is a registered trademark of Xilinx, Inc. All
XC-prefix product designations, CORE Generator, Silicon Xpresso and
WebFitter are trademarks of Xilinx. Java and "Write Once, Run Anywhere"
are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Other brands or product names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.
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