Xcell Journal Issue 43, Summer 2002
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ISSUE 43, SUMMER 2002 XCELL JOURNAL XILINX, INC. Issue 43 Summer 2002 XcellXcelljournaljournal THE AUTHORITATIVE JOURNAL FOR PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC USERS Cover Story Xilinx CEO Wim Roelandts Reveals How to Survive a Recession and Gain Market Leadership ANALYSIS Total Cost Management TECHNOLOGY How to Build Efficient FIR Filters Xyron Inc. Makes RTOS Breakthrough PERSPECTIVE Using DSP in Real-Time Video Processing NEWS IBMIBM ASICsASICs IncorporateIncorporate Xilinx Technology Virtex-II Pro – New Products, Reduced Pricing R LETTER FROM THE EDITOR We Did It Again – Only Better This Time ast year, Xilinx debuted at #14 on the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For™ L annual list. This year, we broke into the Top 10 with a ranking of #6 – the only Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area company to make the Top 10. To help determine the new rankings, FORTUNE weighed how companies reacted to the economic downturn of 2001. Although revenue at Xilinx declined by 50 percent over the course of 2001, the company decided employee layoffs would come only as a last resort. As a result of significant cost- cutting measures – including tiered salary cuts for everyone except the lowest paid employees – Xilinx managed to avoid layoffs, continued to bring remarkable new products to market, and became larger EDITOR IN CHIEF Carlis Collins than all other public programmable logic companies combined. [email protected] 408-879-4519 We believe the FORTUNE magazine ranking reflects the strong values we hold at Xilinx: MANAGING EDITOR Tom Durkin [email protected] • Customer focus 530-271-0899 • Respect CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jane Bratun “Many Xilinx employees have told me how proud they are to Brendan Bridgford LeRoy Miller • Excellence Ryan Wilson receive this recognition. It speaks as much about the great • Accountability DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION Scott Blair culture we have created at Xilinx as is does about the quality Dan Teie • Teamwork of people who work here.” • Integrity Xcell journal • Very open communication – Wim Roelandts, CEO, Xilinx Inc. Xilinx, Inc. 2100 Logic Drive • Enjoying our work. San Jose, CA 95124-3400 Phone: 408-559-7778 These CREATIVE values are a vital part of our culture, and they make a positive difference for our FAX: 408-879-4780 ©2002 Xilinx Inc. employees and our customers. Our values make Xilinx a great company to work for – and a great All rights reserved. company to work with. Our technology, our service, and our customer satisfaction continue to lead Xcell is published quarterly. XILINX, the Xilinx logo, the industry. We are always seeking new ways to make a real difference in our world. And, though CoolRunner, Spartan, and Virtex are registered trade- marks of Xilinx Inc. Alliance Series, Xilinx Foundation technology drives our business, we’ve built our success on the strong partnerships we’ve created with Series, AllianceCORE, Foundation, IRL, LogiCORE, SelectI/O, WebPACK, WebPOWERED, WebFITTER, our customers, our suppliers, and other technology leaders in our industry. QPro, XPERTS, XtremeDSP, CORE Generator, Rocket I/O, Fast Zero Power, SelectRAM, IP-Immersion, To learn more about the FORTUNE magazine’s top 100 companies to work for, go to: System ACE, ChipScope, and all XC-prefix products are trademarks, and The Programmable Logic Company is www.fortune.com/lists/bestcompanies/. a service mark of Xilinx Inc. Other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The articles, information, and other materials includ- ed in this issue are provided solely for the conven- ience of our readers. Xilinx makes no warranties, express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, and accepts no liability with respect to any such articles, informa- Tom Durkin tion, or other materials or their use, and any use thereof is solely at the risk of the user. Any person or Managing Editor entity using such information in any way releases and waives any claim it might have against Xilinx for any loss, damage, or expense caused thereby. Cover Story Page 4 Contents Summer 2002 How to Survive a Recession and Gain Market Leadership How to Survive a Recession and Gain Market Leadership...........4 IBM ASICs Incorporate Xilinx Technology..................................7 “I said from the beginning that we wanted to emerge from the recession a greater company – and I think we have achieved that.” Total Cost Management.........................................................8 New Virtex-II Pro Devices – Lower Cost.................................12 Perspective Page 8 Virtex-II FPGAs Deliver Advanced Data Security .......................15 When Total Cost Management CoolRunner-II CPLDs Go All Digital.........................................18 Counts, Xilinx PLDs Pay Off If Disaster Strikes, Xilinx Is Prepared.....................................21 CoolRunner-II CPLDs, Spartan-IIE FPGAs, and Virtex-II EasyPath Xilinx Software Improves Your Productivity.............................22 Platform FPGAs can give you total system cost solutions superior to those of traditional ASICs. Hardware/Software Co-Design with Virtex-II Pro FPGAs ...........24 Virtex-II Pro Platform FPGA Drives Convergence ......................27 Software Page 24 Xilinx Offers End-to-End Solutions .........................................30 Exploring Hardware/Software FPGAs – Enabling DSP in Real-Time Video Processing..............32 Co-Design with Virtex-II Pro FPGAs FPGAs Provide Flexibility in Digital TV Development.................36 To explore the possibilities of hardware/software co-design, the Xilinx Design Services team created a reference design for Xilinx Technology Can Disable Stolen Cell Phones....................39 a real-time operating system for telecommunications. Customize Virtual Private Networks.......................................42 Build Secure and Robust Wireless Communications .................44 Technology Focus Page 42 Leading Technologies for Wired Home Networking ..................48 Customize Virtual Private Networks You Can Take It With You: On the Road with Xilinx.................52 with Spartan-IIE FPGA Solutions Build an Efficient FIR Filter Using System Generator ................55 Spartan-IIE FPGA solutions can help you to customize your virtual private network for highest performance, greatest security, and lowest cost. Xilinx Software Tools to Reduce Line Echoes...........................58 SystemIO Solution Expands with Bandwidth Demands.............59 Applications Page 55 Develop MicroBlaze Applications...........................................62 How to Build an Efficient FIR Filter Xyron Semiconductor’s RTOS Breakthrough............................64 Using System Generator Power Supply Solutions for Virtex-II Pro Platform FPGAs ..........66 Xilinx System Generator 2.2 software enables high-level modeling Nallatech’s DIME-II Architecture Goes Pro ...............................68 and implementation of DSP systems in Xilinx Platform FPGAs to outperform traditional DSP processors. Platform FPGAs Take on ASIC SOCs ......................................70 CoolRunner-II Data Sheet.....................................................74 New Products Page 62 Reference Pages ................................................................86 Develop MicroBlaze Applications with Three Flexible Hardware Evaluation Platforms MicroBlaze Development Kits from Memec Design demonstrate the versatility of the MicroBlaze soft processor core in a variety of Xilinx FPGAs. Xcell journal Reference Page 74 CoolRunner-II Data Sheet Subscribe to the Xilinx Xcell Journal at: www.xilinx.com/forms/literature.htm. RealDigital CPLDs consume only microwatts of power, yet provide very high performance – take a look at what’s “under the hood.” Visit Xcell Online for the latest news and information, as soon as it arrives at: www.xilinx.com/publications/xcellonline/. Cover Story View from the Top ”I said from the beginning that we wanted to emerge How to Survive from the recession a greater company – and I think we a Recession have achieved that.“ and Gain Market Leadership 4 Xcell Journal Summer 2002 Cover Story View from the Top by Wim Roelandts Total Solutions Whenever you lay off employees, some of CEO, Xilinx, Inc. the accumulated knowledge of the com- I’m very excited about the programmable pany – its “intellectual capital” – is going logic industry. It’s an industry that’s still in Last year was a to walk out the door. Especially in the the early phases, but over time, it will very difficult year high-tech industry, the value of the com- become the dominant way to implement for the semicon- pany is in the heads of its engineers and integrated circuit designs. ductor industry. support staff. At Xilinx, 70% or 80 % of In fact, it was the The inherent flexibility of programmable our employees are highly educated people worst recession logic allows you to gain time to market, to working in engineering and marketing ever in the history of semiconductors. In introduce new products very quickly, and and supply-chain management. They are 1985, the industry decreased in a year- to upgrade your product, even after the all experts and specialists in their own over-year basis by 17% to 18%. In 2001, sale, through field-upgradeable technology. way – and that’s why it’s so important to the decline was 32% to 33% – almost keep these people happy at Xilinx. Once We’re not just focusing on the chips, how- twice as bad as 1985. people like that leave, that intellectual ever. Our chips must also have the soft- capital goes out the door with them,