Xilinx announced the next-generation of its EasyPath solution as conversion-free replacement to ASICs for volume production. The product line now supports the Spartan-3 and Virtex-4 Platform FPGAs, starting at just $12.95 for 30,000 logic cells and half the price of comparable Structured ASIC offerings. Advances in the EasyPath test technology also provide the benefit of design flexibility with platform features. Companies can transition their Xilinx FPGAs to the lowest device cost for volume production in as little as eight weeks with no conversion required and identical functionality. The reliability and quality metrics for EasyPath devices are identical to their FPGA counterparts with test coverage superior to Structured ASICs. Developers can calculate their design-specific savings for EasyPath FPGAs using the free cost analyzer utility from Xilinx at http://www.xilinx.com/easypath/costanalyzer.
Spartan-3 and Virtex-4 EasyPath FPGAs, unlike any ASIC, offer designers the ability to implement in-system engineering change orders (ECOs) using fully re-programmable look-up tables (LUTs) and flexible IOs. Designers can make changes without re-spins, which greatly reduces engineering, bill of materials and inventory costs as compared to ASIC approaches. In addition, EasyPath FPGAs now support two design variations in a single device - typically one to assist in the customer's system diagnostic test and one for the actual application - further reducing costs and providing unmatched flexibility.
The solutions leverage the robust Xilinx development ecosystem which features hard IP support for multi-Gigabit serial transceivers, Power PC and Ethernet MAC cores; more than 600 proven soft IP cores; and the easy-to-use, low-cost Xilinx Integrated Software Environment (ISE) design suite. Xilinx offers EasyPath FPGAs for its Virtex-II, Virtex-II Pro, Spartan-3 and Virtex-4 Platform FPGAs. EasyPath solutions range in price from 30 to 80 percent below their standard FPGA counterparts. Virtex-II and Virtex-II Pro EasyPath FPGAs are in full production today. Spartan-3 and Virtex-4 EasyPath solutions are available for design now with volume production in mid-2005.
