New Products - FPGAs

NE

Over 1-Mbits of

RAM

Xilinx extends the Virtex family; new FPGAs use copper interconnect technology for optimized performance.

by Rob Schreck, Product Manager, Xilinx, [email protected]

M any high-performance applications in networking and video processing require large amounts of on-chip RAM. To meet this demand, Xilinx recently announced the Virtex™-E

Extended Memory (Virtex-EM) FPGA family that is the first in the industry to provide over one megabit of

True Dual PortTM Block RAM and is also the first to offer copper interconnect for optimized performance.

Features

Xilinx primarily developed the Virtex-EM family to address the application requirements of our large networking customers. The unique combination of block

RAM and logic, along with copper interconnect, allows increased data bandwidth and greater integration; this gives networking companies a very efficient and reliable platform for their 160 Gbps switch fabrics.

The Virtex-EM family builds on the highly successful

Virtex architecture and includes the following:

• Two devices: XCV405E and XCV812E.

• Over 1-Mbit of True Dual-Port RAM (XCV812E).

• Leading edge 0.18 micron, 6-layer metal silicon process.

• New copper interconnect used for top two layers:

- Top layer for uniform on-chip power distribution

The Virtex-EM family also addresses high-end video processing, which uses DSP engines to improve image quality and implement video compression and decompression algorithms. By using the large block

RAM capacity, both the line buffer memory and either a video processing engine or a DSP function can be accommodated on the same Virtex-EM device, which greatly enhances the overall system bandwidth.

•

- Second layer for clock signals - minimizes clock skew

Copper

• Over 311 Mbps single-ended I/O performance.

• 622 Mbps differential I/O performance.

Availability and Pricing

Samples of the XCV812E are available now, and the

XCV405E will be sampled in June. Both devices are expected to be in full production in third quarter this year. The XCV812E and the XCV405E devices are

• Complete hierarchy of memory resources.

priced at $235 and $101, respectively for 50,000 units

• Eight DLLs for over 311 MHz clock management.

in Q4 2000.

• Direct interface to high-performance external memory.

For more information on the Virtex-EM FPGA family see: http://www.xilinx.com/products/ virtex/ss_virem.htm.

Applications

Virtex FPGAs are used in communications, networking, and video image processing applications, where

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