Xilinx and ARC Cores Announce Alliance for Configurable Processor Cores and World Wide Network of Design Centers.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 3, 2000

Xilinx Inc. (Nasdaq:XLNX) and ARC Cores, of Elstree, England, today announced the immediate availability of the ARC 32-bit configurable processor solution for use in the Xilinx(R) Virtex(tm) and Spartan-II(tm) series FPGAs.

Xilinx customers now have access to a high-performance, user-configurable 32-bit processor, or can purchase customized versions for specific applications from a growing network of world-wide design centers.

"ARC Cores and Xilinx have invested considerable effort to create a complete solution for customers of programmable logic," said Bob Terwilliger, president and CEO of ARC Cores. "The combination of the reconfigurability of the Xilinx FPGAs and the configurability of our processor architecture creates a high-performance, flexible, soft-processor solution. It is great to work with a partner who, like ARC Cores, is actively delivering leading-edge products to the marketplace."

Configurable Processor Solution for the Programmable Market

In addition, ARC Cores and Xilinx have formed an alliance to offer complete programmable logic-based solutions for users of ARC's configurable 32-bit processor core. A network of design centers will configure, optimize and integrate the ARC processor for use in Xilinx FPGAs. Qualification for this program will include joint certification by ARC and Xilinx of consulting firms to receive ARC Certified Design Center (ACDC) and Xilinx XPERTS(tm) third-party consultant training. Qualifying ACDC firms will be able to deliver optimized Xilinx netlist implementations of pre-configured ARC processors. The charter members of this program are White Eagle Systems Technology Inc. of San Jose, Calif., Fraunhofer Institute IIS of Erlangen, Germany, and Delta of Horsholm, Denmark.

"Our alliance with ARC and the creation of a developer network marks a significant development in the industry," said Rich Sevcik, senior vice president of IP, services and support at Xilinx. "Time to market is critical for many customers who often don't have the time or resources to develop and debug their system-on-a-chip designs. What was previously only the realm of the well-resourced custom-chip designer is now available to a wider design community."

ARC Cores has also developed the ARCangel hardware prototyping development system that includes a Virtex XCV1000-6 FPGA. The board allows ACDC members and fully-licensed users to configure, test and iterate their ARC-based designs in either a Virtex or Spartan-II FPGA before committing their systems to board-level design. The reconfigurable nature of both the ARC processor and the FPGA delivers flexibility for optimization that is unavailable for hard-wired, processor-based solutions.

Advantages of the ARC Processor

The ARC processor stands apart from traditional RISC processors because its instruction set can be configured to match the customer's exact requirements. This makes it suitable for a wider range of applications than an external or embedded fixed-instruction-set processor. The ARC tool set allows a designer to customize the processor to achieve either greater system performance or lower power at reduced clock frequencies, making it ideal as a soft, FPGA-based solution.

For example, White Eagle Systems Technology designed a voice codec for a GSM-based wireless communications system. The GSM-EFR codec algorithm requires a clock speed of at least 115 MHz on a fixed instruction-set processor in order to be compliant with GSM standards. After configuring the Virtex-based ARC core to include specific instructions for the codec algorithm, White Eagle was able to generate a solution that is fully compliant at 12 MHz, and expects to be able to reduce that further with additional code optimization. Other Virtex FPGA-based ARC solutions have been proven for DSP, Voice over IP (VoIP) and MP3 applications.

Availability

Customers can purchase a full license for the ARC core that includes the core configuration utilities, development tools and the ARCangel board directly from ARC Cores. Users can also purchase optimized Xilinx netlists for application specific configurations of the ARC cores from ACDC member companies who can also integrate those into complete chip and board level designs. Information on the ARC products is available now in the Xilinx IP Center, the definitive Web portal for programmable logic IP at www.xilinx.com/ipcenter.

About ARC Cores

ARC Cores (a trading name of ARC International Ltd.) is a leading designer and developer of customizable, high-performance microprocessors and related intellectual property solutions for integrating microprocessors with embedded systems applications. The ARC processor is an application-specific processor (ASP), which can be rapidly designed and configured using the ARChitect(tm), for telecommunications, voice and data networking and consumer electronics products. The ARC processor can be continually tested and verified at each stage of development, including pre- and post-fabrication, to ensure that it is optimized and properly configured to satisfy each customer's requirements. The company's Web site is located at www.arccores.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 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, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx Web site at www.xilinx.com.

ARChitect is a trademark and ARC Cores is a registered trademark of ARC International (UK) Ltd. No. 0060.