Xilinx Chips Provide Safe Holiday Highways with $49 Stocking Stuffer
Xilinx Teams with Alcohol Countermeasure Systems in Development of a Low-Cost Personal Alcohol Breath Tester Just in Time for the Holidays
SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Xilinx, Inc. today announced a collaboration with Alcohol Countermeasure System (ACS), a leading manufacturer of alcohol sensing and breath test instruments, headquartered in Canada. The design collaboration resulted in ELAN(TM), a personal microcomputer controlled Alcohol Breath Tester designed to measure an individual's blood alcohol concentration. Not much bigger than a cigarette lighter, the ELAN displays %BAC test results on a 3-digit LCD display within 10 seconds of providing a breath sample. ELAN, the most advanced personal passive breath tester available today, uses state-of-the-art Xilinx semiconductor technology, to measure the level of alcohol. Retailing for just $49, the product is available direct from ACS online at www.acs-corp.com.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020822/XLNXLOGO )
Through this collaboration, ACS and Xilinx have also developed a high-end, voice-recognition Alcohol Breath Tester for use in law enforcement's management of repeat offenders. Available today in beta form, the ACS WR3 Ignition Interlock Device is used to activate the driver's ignition -- the driver must breathe and hum into the mouthpiece to operate the vehicle. What makes this new technology unique, according to ACS, is the voice recognition -- enabled by Xilinx chips -- that makes it impossible for the offender to activate the vehicle with the breath of another individual. ACS partners with North American and European law enforcement agencies in the deployment of the latest technology.
"Xilinx low-cost programmable chips provided the technology we required to produce the most advanced Alcohol Breath Testers on the market today," said Nigel Correia, operations manager at Alcohol Countermeasure Systems. "We needed leading edge technology combined with low power and low cost and Xilinx delivered."
"Through the power of innovation and partnerships with technology leaders, Xilinx can deliver the latest technology to the masses," said Xilinx president and CEO, Wim Roelandts. "Alcohol Countermeasure has provided an ideal situation in which we can work together to develop a consumer product that can actually make a significant contribution to society."
According to the National Traffic and Safety Administration, the number of alcohol related fatalities has declined 25 percent since 1990. This reduction is attributed to an increase in public awareness and driver accountability. ACS hopes to further contribute to the decline through its innovative technology using Xilinx programmable chips.
ACS, formed twenty-five years ago, is recognized for its expertise in the field of breath analysis and alcohol sensing technologies and manufactures a variety of products for use in law enforcement, industrial safety, clinical, and public use.
Xilinx, Inc. is the worldwide leader of programmable logic solutions. Additional information about Xilinx is available at http://www.xilinx.com/.
CONTACT: Tamara Snowden of Xilinx North American, +1-408-879-6146, or
tamara.snowden@xilinx.com, or Andrea Fionda of Xilinx Europe,
+44 870 735 6526, or andrea.fionda@xilinx.com
Web site: http://www.acs-corp.com/
Web site: http://www.xilinx.com/
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