Axis Systems Uses World"s Largest FPGAs From Xilinx To Deliver Most Efficient Verification System In The Industry

Axis" Reconfigurable Computing Technology Harnesses Power Of Xilinx Platform FPGAs To Simulate, Accelerate And Emulate Complex Chip Designs

SAN JOSE, CA--(INTERNET WIRE)--May 20, 2002 -- Axis Systems, Inc., and Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) today announced that their respective technologies are now making it possible to reduce verification times for today"s most complex system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs.

The new Xtreme-II verification system from Axis Systems, powered by Virtex-II Platform FPGAs from Xilinx, enables chip designers to simultaneously simulate, accelerate, and emulate their SoCs. The Xtreme II system provides a complete verification suite in a single, unified environment to help design teams to meet the challenges of larger and more complex designs, shorter schedules, and shrinking resources.

Xtreme-II is designed with Xilinx® Virtex®-II Platform FPGAs, making the new system more than 20 times denser than competing emulation systems. The density of Xtreme-II is more than 16,000 gates per cubic inch.

"We selected Xilinx Virtex-II FPGAs for its fast performance and high capacity so we can provide our customers with unbeatable price/performance," said Axis founder and vice president of marketing Steve Wang. "The Xtreme-II system will help our customers verify their SoC designs in record time and significantly shorten their time to market."

"The development of the Xtreme-II verification system exemplifies the market need for Virtex-II multimillion gate FPGAs," said Ivo Bolsens, chief technical officer at Xilinx. "Axis" unique architecture is capable of harnessing the power of our Virtex-II FPGAs, largely based on the fact that Axis makes efficient use of the ReConfigurable Computing technology."

The Xtreme-II verification system from Axis has the most efficient ReConfigurable Computing (RCC) engine to date, with a minimum five-fold capacity improvement from the previous generation. Xtreme-II also features the highest capacity of any event-driven verification system on the market -- up to 50 million gates in a small server-sized chassis, easily expandable to 100 million gates in a twin-box configuration. It contains more than two gigabytes of memory so designers can load their most demanding memory-intensive applications. Xtreme-II"s runtime speed of up to 1 MHz allows designers to complete their verification runs faster than ever.

The Xilinx Virtex-II Platform FPGA family delivers the highest performance and highest density of any programmable logic solution available. The innovative Virtex-II IP-Immersion architecture enables integration of both hard and soft intellectual property (IP), enhanced system memory, and lightning-fast DSP performance, providing the best platform for advanced digital designs in the industry. With densities ranging from 40,000 to eight million system gates, Virtex-II solutions are empowered by advanced design tools that reduce development time through fast design, powerful synthesis, smart implementation algorithms, and efficient verification capabilities.

About Axis Systems

Axis Systems, Inc. offers high-performance verification platforms for the hardware and software development of complex electronic system and system-on-chip designs. Axis" products help customers increase confidence in new designs, improve overall verification productivity and shorten time to market. On a single platform and with one design database, patented RCC technology provides software simulation, accelerated simulation, system emulation and hardware/software co-verification. Customers include the world"s leading networking and multimedia companies. Axis is headquartered at 209 Java Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. To learn more about Axis, visit www.axiscorp.com.

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.