Xilinx Delivers New ISE Embedded Development Kit for the Fastest FPGA Processor Solution in the Industry

New kit combines familiar embedded design methodologies with innovative HW-SW design tools for Virtex-II Pro PowerPC and MicroBlaze embedded processors

SAN JOSE, Calif., October 28, 2002 - Xilinx, Inc., (NASDAQ:XLNX) today announced its new Embedded Development Kit (EDK) - an all encompassing suite of design tools accelerating the design of highly optimized programmable systems. EDK provides an easy-to-learn entry point for both embedded software and hardware designers who want to design with the PowerPC processors embedded into the Xilinx flagship Virtex-II Pro™ FPGAs or the MicroBlaze™ 32-bit soft processor core in Xilinx Virtex and Spartan Series™ devices. With the new tools, designers can significantly reduce system costs and/or increase performance by optimizing software and hardware on the same programmable platform. For more information about the tools, visit www.xilinx.com/edk.

EDK is a series of software products developed to extend the Xilinx Integrated Software Environment (ISE) into the realm of system level design. In August, when the company introduced its latest ISE 5.1 software, Xilinx announced plans to deliver solutions such as EDK to address the needs of embedded software designers. Today in related news, Xilinx also announced new co-design technology  for software and hardware engineers involved in the common design of embedded programmable systems.

"In this new era of systems design, system cost, integration and flexibility, along with performance and time-to-market are the primary criteria in choosing a system solution," said Rich Sevcik, senior vice president of FPGA Products at Xilinx. "Xilinx is enabling this new era with its Virtex-II Pro platform FPGAs, intellectual property cores, and with the delivery of a complete, integrated design flow for embedded systems development."

EDK interfaces industry standard tools from embedded design leaders such as Wind River Systems with mature FPGA logic design tools and innovative embedded design tools. The kit includes tools to generate and customize Xilinx's library of intellectual property bus infrastructure and peripheral cores that are used as part of the processor system, including all the necessary device drivers, standard C libraries, and Board Support Package for stand alone and RTOS applications. Also included with the kit is a MicroBlaze processor - the industries fastest and smallest 32-bit RISC soft core.

EDK automatically generates the hardware, software and simulation components based upon user specifications. The kit includes the Xilinx Platform Studio which is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) used to define the embedded system. XPS uses a unique format called the Xilinx Platform Specification Format (PSF) to describe the custom hardware and software platforms. The Xilinx PSF supports customer and third-party hardware and software tools and design modules. The kit also includes Xilinx versions of the open source GNU compiler/debugger tool chains for the processors and support for the optional Diab XE C/C++ PowerPC405 OEM compiler from Wind River Systems.

Pricing and Availability
The Embedded Development Kit is available immediately with promotional pricing at $495 until the end of 2002, after which the kit will be priced at $995. Purchasing information for EDK is available at www.xilinx.com/processor.

About Xilinx ISE version 5.1i software environment
With ISE 5.1i, Xilinx is delivering "ASIC-strength" design tools to exploit the power of Virtex-II Pro silicon, ranging in device densities from 40,000 to more than eight million system gates. Designers are benefiting from a 2X improvement in compile times (an increase from 100,000 to 200,000 gate/min) and a 40 percent gain in device speeds over last year's software release. With an installed base of than 150,000 design seats, and more than 50 percent market share in the PLD industry, Xilinx ISE is widely regarded as the de-facto standard methodology for programmable logic design.

About Xilinx
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) is the worldwide leader of programmable logic and programmable system solutions. Additional information about Xilinx is available at www.xilinx.com.

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