Xilinx Ships Industry's First Programmble 10Gb Ethernet MAC With XAUI

Company Also Enhances 1 Gigabit Ethernet Offering To Provide Single-Chip Solution Based On Virtex-II Pro(TM) Rocket I/O(TM) Technology

SAN JOSE, CA--(INTERNET WIRE)--Apr 15, 2002 -- Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) today announced the availability of enhanced 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet MAC intellectual property (IP) cores for Virtex-II Pro platform FPGAs, providing end users with flexibility to choose an interface best suited for their target applications. Leveraging its Rocket I/O technology with embedded features such as 8B/10B line coding and channel bonding, Xilinx has upgraded both the 1 Gb and 10 Gb Ethernet MAC cores to provide designers with a gigabit serial interface option. Furthermore, both cores offer an enhanced network management feature set that includes support for programmable interframe gaps, EtherStats-based statistics, and maximum size jumbo frames. Xilinx will discuss the features of the 10 Gb Ethernet MAC core in detail at Programmable World 2002 scheduled for April 17, 2002. For complete program and registration information, visit www.xilinx.com.

"To support the growing need for higher bandwidth, designers of high-end networking and telecom systems are moving from parallel to serial interfaces for their next generation designs," said Mark Aaldering, senior director of the IP Division at Xilinx. "Leveraging the Virtex-II Pro Rocket I/O technology, Xilinx is positioned to lead the migration to serial connectivity standards and speed the delivery of enhanced Gigabit Ethernet cores to our customer base and helping them to get their leading-edge products to market quickly."

10Gb Ethernet Core

Designed to the Draft 4.1 of the IEEE P802.3ae specification, the 10Gb Ethernet MAC (10 GMAC) core includes the option of either a parallel 10 Gigabit Media Independent Interface (XGMII) or a serial 10 Gigabit Attachment Unit Interface (XAUI). With the inclusion of the XAUI interface, the 10 GMAC core can now support 10 GBASE-X applications without the need for an external serial physical layer device, reducing overall system costs and design complexity. The 10 GMAC can be used in the development of emerging 10Gb networking equipment, providing an economical alternative to SONET for WAN systems. The 10 GMAC core also has the option of a 32-bit parallel XGMII interface running at 312.5 Mbps to provide up to 10 Gbps total bandwidth. Xilinx is a principal member of IEEE P802.3ae 10Gb Ethernet Task Force, working closely with leading networking system and IC developers on current and future versions of the standard to ensure interoperability.

1Gb Ethernet Core

The 1 Gigabit Ethernet MAC (GMAC) core is also available in both parallel Gigabit Media Independent Interface (GMII) and serial PHY interface versions. With its integrated physical coding sub-layer (PCS) and Physical Media Attachment (PMA) functions running at 1.25 Gbps, Xilinx now offers users of the Gigabit MAC a single-chip 1000BASE-X solution. Ideally suited for the development of Gigabit communication and storage equipment, the GMAC core also incorporates an 8-bit parallel GMII interface running at 125 MHz to provide up to 1 Gbps total bandwidth. . Additionally, the core supports single-speed half- and/or full-duplex operation and auto-negotiation and is fully compliant with the IEEE 802.3-2000 standard specification.

License Price and Availability

The 10 GMAC core and the 1 GMAC core are available now as LogiCORE™ products under the terms of the SignOnce IP license and are downloadable via the web at www.xilinx.com/ipcenter. The site license price for the 10 GMAC core is $22,000, and the 1 GMAC core is $16,000. Both cores are available for use in the Virtex®-II series of platform FPGAs. The GMAC can also be targeted to the Virtex-E and Spartan®-IIE families of FPGAs. 4.1i or later versions of Xilinx® software are required.

About Programmable World 2002

Programmable World 2002 is an industry event presented by IBM, Wind River Systems, Xilinx and a dozen other industry leaders. Over 8,000 system architects and design engineers are expected to participate in this free event. A broad array of topics will be discussed at the event, including high performance connectivity, digital signal processing, systems design, and processing solutions. The event will also offer 20 hours of technical sessions as well as technical demonstrations and exhibits. Complete program and technical session descriptions are also available at www.xilinx.com/pw2002.

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the leading innovator of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as intellectual property cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, high-reliability/military, low power portable, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com.