Xilinx Delivers 50% Lower System Cost With New Small Form Factor FPGAs

Xilinx Delivers 50% Lower System Cost With New Small Form Factor FPGAs

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Xilinx, Inc. , the world’s leading programmable logic device (PLD) provider, unveiled its latest 90nm low-cost Spartan-3A FPGAs. Optimized for use in applications such as digital displays, set top boxes and wireless routers, the new small-form factor devices address industry demand for smaller footprint packages, enabling extremely cost-sensitive consumer electronic designs. The company will demonstrate its latest low cost, low-power solutions for consumer and automotive applications at this week’s CES in the South Hall, booth #35768.

Spartan-3 Generation: Industry’s #1 Choice for Low Cost Consumer Applications

Xilinx success in targeting high-volume consumer applications is based largely on the flexibility and cost advantages of its Spartan series, which has grown from zero to over 25 percent of company revenue since its 1998 introduction. With support for the industry’s widest range of I/O standards (26), unique power configuration capabilities and anti-cloning security advantages, Xilinx Spartan-3 generation are the worlds most widely adopted low-cost FPGAs with over $2B in cumulative revenue.

“Xilinx is providing customized solutions designed to meet the needs of targeted high-growth market segments and applications,” said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst of Semiconductor Design for iSuppli, a leading market research firm. “By affording consumer application designers with turnkey solutions including silicon, IP and development boards, the company should be poised for further growth in this highly competitive market.”

Delivering 50% Lower System Cost

By providing the industry’s broadest offering of device package options, most comprehensive IP library (8x) and vast selection of turnkey development boards, Xilinx complete solutions eliminate the need for additional standard board components, thus reducing overall system cost by up to 50 percent as compared to competitive FPGAs. Eliminating external components also provides increased system reliability.

On Demand Instant Power Savings

Xilinx Spartan-3 FPGAs provide the industry’s leading power management solution with built-dual power management modes, enabling instant power savings and eliminating the need for external components such as regulators, heat sinks, buffers, etc. Xilinx Spartan-3A devices provide up to 40 percent static power reduction in suspend mode and up to 99 percent in hibernate mode. The suspend mode cuts the quiescent current to a minimum state while retaining all information within the FPGA. This mode offers quick wake up time and system level synchronization with an awake pin to indicate status, and programmable timers to delay internal and output wake up until the system is ready. Hibernate mode uses the lowest possible quiescent power (virtually 0mA) with its unique ability to completely power off.

Low Cost Design Security with DeviceDNA technology

Xilinx Spartan-3A and 3AN devices offer a unique DeviceDNA serial number. This permanent ID code safeguards hardware and software IP, providing designers with the flexibility to implement custom algorithms that enable authentication, deter cloning, and control IP activation. Similar to an ATM transaction, the active value generated from the card + pin combination is compared to a stored number that authorizes or rejects the transaction.