Avnet Electronics Marketing Launches New SpeedWay Seminar in February 2005: 'Enabling DSP Applications with Xilinx FPGAs'.

PHOENIX -- Topics covered provide a deep understanding of how to enhance DSP performance using the world's most advanced FPGA technologies from Xilinx

Designers interested in leveraging FPGA architectures and system-level design tools to enhance the performance of new or existing DSP applications can get a detailed overview of this subject by attending one of Avnet Electronics Marketing's "Enabling DSP Applications with Xilinx(R) FPGAs" SpeedWay Seminars(TM). Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT), is offering these seminars free of charge across North America beginning in February 2005.

FPGAs have gained considerable traction in high-performance DSP applications where they have emerged as ideal co-processors for standard DSP processors. The FPGA can integrate pre- and post-processing functions to accelerate the application's speed and its throughput. FPGAs also complement DSPs for system logic consolidation, peripheral interfacing, and bus bridging. This seminar series covers the Xilinx XtremeDSP(TM) solution, which leverages FPGA technologies, DSP IP cores and tools, including System Generator v6.3i, to show how they can be integrated to provide the highest performance and quickest time to market for a wide variety of DSP applications.

The seminars developed and presented by Avnet's factory-trained and certified field application engineers will explore the following topics:

1) A review of typical DSP algorithms and design techniques

2) An introduction to Xilinx's FPGA products, including the new Virtex(TM)-4 family

3) Methods to harness FPGA architecture to build function-specific DSP engines

4) Customer case studies illustrating the high-performance capabilities of FPGAs in real-world DSP applications

5) An overview and demonstration of the System Generator for DSP design tool from Xilinx

6) A summary of valuable next steps for the designer who is ready to use Xilinx FPGAs in their DSP-oriented project

"Using an FPGA to drive high-performance DSP applications greatly enhances the capability of the application," said Jim Schaeffer, executive vice president of Avnet Design Services. "This SpeedWay seminar will greatly improve the productivity of the designer looking to harness this solution."

"As FPGAs become increasingly sophisticated and able to handle the most demanding signal processing challenges, design methodologies are making programming them easier, resulting in a whole new class of high-performance DSP applications," commented Jerry Banks, director of DSP solutions marketing at Xilinx. "We are pleased that Avnet is offering this seminar. It will provide engineers with a unique opportunity to learn the details of how to adopt our powerful DSP solution into their next design."

Customers can register today for the seminar series, which begins in early February.

Customers who attend the XtremeDSP SpeedWay Seminar will receive a $100 discount toward the purchase of the DSP Design Kit from Avnet Design Services.

To register for the seminar and for complete details, visit www.em.avnet.com/dspstartingline.

About the Xilinx XtremeDSP Initiative

Today's announcement reinforces the push by Xilinx to bring the benefits of FPGAs to high-performance DSP applications. The unparalleled successes of the Virtex families, first introduced in 1998, and the launch of the XtremeDSP initiative by Xilinx in 2000, are the foundations of the proven track record and the industry milestones upon which Xilinx launched its new DSP Division in August 2004. Other important milestones include:

--First DSP domain-optimized Platform FPGAs with next-generation Virtex-4 family

--First Platform FPGAs with dedicated DSP features in Virtex-II and Virtex-II Pro FPGAs

--First FPGAs supporting DSP MAC functions in Virtex family

--First to market with proven DSP design methodologies through strategic collaboration with The MathWorks(C)

--Extensive library of proven DSP IP cores and advanced development boards to accelerate the design cycle and maximize performance.

--Wealth of design resources including design services, field specialists dedicated to DSP, application notes, reference designs, white papers, Web portals, and DSP education classes.

About Avnet Electronics Marketing

Avnet Electronics Marketing is the largest operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet Inc., a Fortune 500 company with fiscal 2004 sales of more than $10 billion, and one of the world's largest technology marketing, distribution and services companies. Avnet Electronics Marketing, Americas (EMA) serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in North America and Brazil, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated services. The company's Web site is located at www.em.avnet.com.