Software improves FPGA design efficiency

Design environment is most advanced design solution for the latest line of Xilinx 65nm Virtex-5 high-performance FPGAs and 90nm Spartan-3 generation high volume FPGAs.

Available now from Xilinx, ISE 9.2i is a new release of the company's widely used integrated software environment design solution.

Improvements in the ISE 9.2i release reduce memory requirements by an average of 27% while providing expanded support for Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP x64 and Red Hat Enterprise WS 5.0 32 and 64bit operating systems.

To simplify multirate DSP designs with a large number of clocks typically found in wireless and video applications, ISE 9.2i software features breakthrough advancements in place and route and clock algorithms offering up to a 15% performance advantage.

ISE 9.2i software is powered by the company's latest SmartCompile technology, which cuts implementation runtimes by up to 6x while maintaining exact design preservation of unchanged logic.

The new release also provides the most advanced design solution for the latest line of Xilinx 65nm Virtex-5 high-performance FPGAs and 90nm Spartan-3 generation high volume FPGAs.

Xilinx has been delivering the benefits of 65nm FPGAs since May 2006 with production qualified devices available now.

Through algorithmic improvements in memory usage, ISE 9.2i design tools radically improve utilisation of computing resources, providing users with greater design flexibility.

This reduction in memory usage enables users to design with higher density FPGAs with the more widely available 32bit version of Microsoft Windows XP in lieu of the previously required 64bit operating system.

"With broad availability of our feature-rich high-performance 65nm Virtex- 5 FPGAs, customers are demanding more from their design platform", says Bruce Talley, Vice President of the Design Software Division at Xilinx.

"ISE 9.2i, which combines advanced tools like SmartCompile technology with better usage of their computing hardware, provides faster timing closure and higher quality of results for a better time to market solution".

Improvements in ISE 9.2i software permit greater flexibility for designs which leverage embedded processors.

Tighter integration with Platform Studio (Xilinx integrated development environment for embedded design) allows embedded users improved access to the design closure tools residing within the ISE design environment.

The ISE 9.2i design suite is accompanied by the release of ChipScope Pro 9.2 debug and verification software.

Available as an add-on option, the ChipScope Pro 9.2 solution reduces verification cycles by up to 50%.

Also included is the newest release of the ChipScope Pro Serial IO Toolkit, providing simplified debugging of high-speed serial I/O designs for Virtex-4 FX and Virtex-5 LXT and SXT FPGAs.

ISE software delivers programmable logic design solutions to over 300,000 users worldwide with an intuitive, front-to-back design environment for all Xilinx product families, including Virtex-4 and Virtex-5 platform FPGAs, Spartan-3 generation FPGAs, and CoolRunner-II CPLDs.

All versions of ISE 9.2i software packages support Windows XP, Windows XP x64, Windows Vista Business and Linux Red Hat Enterprise WS.

ISE Foundation also supports Solaris 2.9.

ISE 9.2i Foundation, ChipScope Pro 9.2, and ChipScope Pro Serial I/O Toolkit configurations are immediately available with prices ranging from US $495 to $2495.

Full-featured 60-day evaluation versions can be downloaded from the Xilinx website at no charge.

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