Xilinx Demonstrates New Triple-Rate SDI Reference Designs for Broadcast Video Applications at NAB 2008

-- At the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Conference today, Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX), the world's leading programmable logic supplier, announced it will demonstrate new triple-rate serial digital interface (SDI) reference designs available for all Xilinx(R) Virtex(R)-5 field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The triple-rate SDI designs with Virtex-5 FPGAs provide a single-chip, low-power interface that supports standard definition (SD), high definition (HD), and emerging 3G SDI standards for broadcast video applications. Xilinx will demonstrate its new triple-rate SDI offerings on the Xilinx ML571 development board at NAB, April 14-17 in Booth #SU9926 located in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

"There is a growing requirement for broadcasters to support full bandwidth 1080p60 video across the broadcast chain, and many product developers want a single interface design that can cope with traditional SD and HD video as well as the new 3G-SDI standards," said Andy DeBaets, senior director of Systems and Application Engineering at Xilinx. "We can now present all broadcast equipment providers with the means to implement and future-proof triple-rate SDI interface designs with as little effort as possible."

Single-Chip, Triple-Rate SDI Solution

Virtex-5 FPGAs implement triple-rate SDI on a single, low-power multi-gigabit transceiver (MGT) capable of supporting full-bandwidth 1080p60 video. This unique configuration enables dynamic switching between SD, HD and 3G-SDI standards for transmit or receive, with automatic standard detection and without reprogramming the FPGA. It is also possible to support all received data rates with a single reference clock.

The triple-rate SDI design is the latest addition to the comprehensive portfolio of solutions already available from Xilinx for broadcast video connectivity applications. These include non-trivial conversion between Dual Link HD-SDI and 3G-SDI and between levels A and B of the 3G-SDI standard, as well as pass-through designs for all the SDI data rates. In addition, Xilinx also provides a number of complementary designs supporting HD-SDI audio embedding/de-embedding and audio sample rate conversion.

About Xilinx Virtex-5 Series FPGAs

The Virtex-5 family is the fifth generation in the award-winning Virtex series and is built upon the industry's most advanced 65-nanometer triple-oxide technology, breakthrough ExpressFabric(TM) technology and proven ASMBL(TM) architecture. The Virtex-5 family features four domain-optimized platforms for high-speed logic, digital signal processing, embedded processing and serial connectivity applications. Production devices are shipping now and may be purchased online or through Xilinx distributors. For further cost reductions, the Xilinx EasyPath(TM) program enables customers to use Virtex-5 devices in high-volume applications. Visit http://www.xilinx.com/virtex5 for more information.

About Xilinx in Broadcast

Xilinx is the worldwide leader in programmable logic solutions offering a wide array of solutions for the broadcast industry, ranging from video, audio and network connectivity, real-time HD video processing and high-speed digital signal processing for transmission and modulation. Xilinx offers reference designs and intellectual property (IP) cores as building blocks for complete broadcast systems. For more information, visit http://www.xilinx.com/broadcast.

About Xilinx

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