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Xilinx introduces FPGAs at 28nm
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 24 June 2010, 18:30 IST |
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Bangalore: Programmable logic maker Xilinx has unveiled the Xilinx 7 Series consisting of Virtex-7, Kintex-7 and Artix-7 families at the 28nm node, which is aimed at reducing power consumption. According to Victor Peng, Senior Vice President of Programmable Platforms Development at Xilinx, the new series cuts total power consumption by 50 percent and offers capacity of up to two million logic cells on the unified architecture that scales across low-cost to ultra high-end families.
The new FPGA families enable developers to implement programmable solutions in a range of systems that had previously only been achievable in ASSPs or ASICs. This includes portable ultrasound equipment consuming less than 2watts and automobile infotainment systems driven by 12 volts, as well as low-cost LTE baseband and femtocell base stations. Xilinx placed an intense focus on minimizing total power by adopting the HKMG (high-K metal gate) process optimized for low static power consumption.
Peng says, working with its foundry partner TSMC, Xilinx helped define the new process to achieve FPGA performance requirements, while lowering static power consumption compared to the alternative 28nm high-performance process. Early access ISE Design Suite software supporting 7 series FPGAs is now available. Initial devices will be available in first quarter of CY2011.
All 7 series FPGAs share a unified architecture that enables customers to scale their designs up or down in capability to reduce cost and power or increase performance and capability. This can reduce their investment in developing and deploying products across low-cost and high-performance families, according to Xilinx. The architecture is derived from the widely successful Virtex-series-based architecture and has been designed to simplify reuse of current Virtex-6 and Spartan-6 FPGA designs.
The 28nm families extend Xilinx's Targeted Design Platform strategy introduced with the company's 40nm Virtex(R)-6 and 45nm Spartan(R)-6 FPGA families, now in volume production. The Targeted Design Platform strategy combines FPGAs, ISE(R) Design Suite software tools and IP, development kits, and targeted reference designs aimed to enable customers to leverage their existing design investments and reduce their overall costs as they meet evolving market needs, Peng added.
Recently, Altera had also announced its next-generation 28nm Stratix V FPGA family, which is also aimed at reducing cost and power of high-bandwidth applications. Manufactured on TSMC's 28nm High-Performance (HP) process, the Stratix V FPGA family is claimed to provide up to 1.1 million logic elements.