Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGAs Achieve PCI Express Compliance - World's First FPGAs to Pass All v1.1 Specification Tests

Proven Solution Enables Users to Rapidly Adopt Industry's Fastest 65nm FPGAs With Built-in Low Power PCI Express Endpoint Blocks and Serial Transceivers

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Jan. 3, 2007 -- Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX), the world's leading supplier of programmable solutions, today announced that its Virtex(TM)-5 LXT FPGAs have passed the latest PCI Express Endpoint v1.1 base specification compliance workshop and are now listed on the PCI-SIG integrator's list. This the first time the PCI-SIG, which controls PCI Express compliance, conducted a workshop to test for v1.1 compliance. Xilinx continues at the forefront of PCI Express technology with its Virtex(TM)-5 family, the world's first and only 65nm FPGAs available today, with hard-coded PCI Express(R) Endpoint and Tri-mode Ethernet Media Access Controller (MAC) blocks.

According to analysts, PCI Express and Gigabit Ethernet have emerged as the leading interface standards in markets served by FPGAs and are expected to account for over 80 percent of all port shipments in 2009.(1)

"From the time we demonstrated the world's first PCI Express product with our Virtex-II Pro FPGAs in 2002, Xilinx has provided customers with instant access to a proven and compliant PCI Express platform," said Per Holmberg, director of Programmable Digital Systems Marketing at Xilinx. "Today we continue at the forefront of programmable PCI Express solutions, providing designers an off-the-shelf solution that saves time, reduces power consumption and frees up valuable FPGA fabric resources."

PCI-SIG Compliance Tests

PCI-SIG controls specification, maintains the integrator's list, and conducts regular compliance workshops to enable PCI Express vendors to run tests on their products and ensure interoperability. It sponsors testing sessions worldwide to confirm a given product's compliance with the latest version of the PCI specification and issues a "pass" or "fail" for each test performed. To pass the Compliance Workshop, the product must score a minimum of 80 percent for interoperability testing, and pass the PCI-SIG-sponsored tests. Three gold tests are conducted for electrical, configuration, and protocol compliance.

Virtex-5 FPGAs passed all tests, both under components and add-in cards. Xilinx participated in the PCI-SIG workshop #52 in October 2006 and passed the v1.1 compliance tests. Previously, Xilinx participated in workshop #50 in May 2006 and #51 in August 2006 with its Virtex-5 FPGAs and passed the v1.0a compliance tests.

About Virtex-5 LXT FPGAs

Built on the 65-nm Virtex-5 platform with new ultra-fast ExpressFabric(TM) technology, proven ASMBL(TM) architecture and low-power triple-oxide technology, the Virtex-5 LXT platform delivers an average of 30 percent higher performance, 65 percent increased capacity and up to 35 percent reduction in dynamic power consumption over previous generation 90-nm FPGAs. The hardened PCI Express core saves users up to 10,000 LUTs and two watts of power as compared to soft intellectual property (IP) core implementations. Addressing the challenging bandwidth, power and cost targets facing equipment vendors working to enable the emerging 'triple play' services market (voice, video and data over single broadband Internet Protocol connection), the Virtex-5 LXT platform is optimized to enable FPGA designers across a wide range of applications to benefit from serial connectivity by delivering a comprehensive, fully compliant protocol solution with the greatest ease of use.

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the worldwide leader in complete programmable logic solutions. For more information, visit http://www.xilinx.com .

(1) Electronic Trend Publications (Sep '05)