Xilinx announces availability of Virtex-5 SXT FPGAs

Xilinx Inc. has announced that its DSP-optimized Virtex-5 SXT devices are already available in production. These devices are part of the Xilinx XtremeDSP portfolio of solutions that includes development kits, design software, IP and reference designs.

The Virtex-5 SXT platform of devices is optimized for high performance and can deliver over 350 GMACs of fixed-point performance for many applications including wireless, test and measurement, and defense and up to 82.5Gflops of floating-point DSP performance for applications such as medical imaging.

All three devices in the 65nm Virtex-5 SXT family are production-qualified and supported by the XtremeDSP portfolio of development tools and IP including, System Generator for DSP, Core Generator, Platform Studio and ISE Foundation.

The Virtex-5 SXT platform consists of three devices (SX35T, SX50T and SX95T) that offer a range in logic density from 35,000 to 95,000 logic cells and 192 to 640 dedicated DSP48E slices. Developers can get started on designs today by purchasing the Virtex-5 SXT FPGA ML506 Evaluation Platform.

The Virtex-5 SXT devices complete the XtremeDSP silicon portfolio that is available today for delivering maximum price/performance flexibility to customers. The other platforms include the 90nm Virtex-4 SX platform with over 250 GMACS at 500MHz and the Spartan-3A DSP platform with the most price-performance optimized devices offering over 30 GMACS at 250MHz.

Xilinx says that each Virtex-5 SXT device offers integrated system-level capabilities that shrink design cycles and reduce system cost. These features include low-power RocketIO GTP serial transceivers, and built-in PCIe Endpoint and tri-mode Ethernet MAC blocks. Xilinx claims that no other FPGA vendor provides a DSP-optimized FPGA fabric that also includes dedicated PCIe and tri-mode Ethernet blocks.

The Virtex-5 family uses 65nm triple-oxide technology to reduce overall dynamic power consumption while maintaining low static power consumption. The enhanced DSP48E block consumes only 1.4mW/100MHz typical at 38 percent toggle rate, and the RocketIO GTP transceivers consume as little as 100mW typical at 3.2Gbps, all of which combine to lower the overall system power and cost.

Production-qualified Virtex-5 SXT devices are available today in FF665 27mm x 27mm and FF1136 35mm x 35mm packages. The SX50T lists for US $299 in 1,000 unit volumes. For even further cost reductions, the Virtex-5 EasyPath program offers up to 75 percent cost reduction. The ML506 board featuring the Virtex-5 SX95T device is available now and sells for $1,195.00.

- Clive Maxfield
Programmable Logic DesignLine