Xilinx intros Virtex-5Q FPGA family for aerospace, defense

BANGALORE, INDIA: Xilinx Inc. today introduced the Xilinx Virtex-5Q family of FPGAs for the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry.

Virtex-5Q FPGAs provide the silicon foundation for a host of applications, including Xilinx’s single-chip cryptography (SCC) targeted design platform aimed at accelerating development of next-generation secure communications systems.

The new Virtex-5Q family delivers the highest performance, largest capacity FPGAs with ruggedized packaging and advanced cryptographic capabilities, and is the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of defense-grade devices that are also available in bare die form for customized form factors.

This newest addition to the Xilinx A&D device portfolio is a natural migration path from commercial-grade Virtex-5 FPGAs specifically addressing the elevated performance and security demands on modern A&D systems.

The inherent re-programmability and SCC technology advances of Virtex-5Q FPGAs overcome the limitations of traditional ASIC and ASSP approaches, making them ideal for secure communications applications, as well as for electronic warfare, aircraft and transport vehicles; C4ISR systems (Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance); radar; and missiles and munitions.

“India’s aerospace and defense (A&D) industry is a fast growing sector. There is an increased focus by the government and private sector to design and develop complex, indigenous systems for military, space research and civil applications for domestic and global markets,” said Neeraj Varma, Country Manager - Sales, for India and Australia and New Zealand at Xilinx.

"We believe there is huge potential for Xilinx’s Virtex-5Q FPGA family in a wide range of high-performance solutions including battlefield surveillance, radar, aircraft, satellite and complex image processing solutions. Xilinx is a market leader and our customers significantly benefit from our in-depth market knowledge, key development partnerships and proven track record of technology leadership in programmable logic devices.”

Xilinx A&D leadership
Xilinx is the leading programmable logic provider to the A&D market with over twice the market share of its nearest competitor. Today’s announcement is a major milestone in the company’s A&D heritage that marks 20 years of continuous service and support with solutions that meet the rigorous and long-term demands of A&D applications.

“Xilinx has provided reconfigurable FPGAs to aerospace and defense for 20 years, resulting in the longest and broadest support in the industry,” said Amit Dhir, senior director, Xilinx Aerospace and Defense.

“The Virtex-5Q FPGA family extends this heritage and reduces system power, cost and form factor, while increasing performance and capabilities. Also, the unique features of embedded processing and ruggedized packaging provides the highest level of integration for a range of applications, including secure communications, C4ISR, electronic warfare, aircraft, radar and missiles.”

High performance Virtex-5Q FPGAs
The Virtex-5Q FPGA family leverages the proven ASMBL architecture and underlying programmable technologies of Xilinx’s market-leading Virtex-5 FPGAs to deliver 30 percent higher speeds, 65 percent more capacity, and 35 percent lower dynamic power consumption on average over previous generations.

The Virtex-5Q family is the first defense-grade FPGA family to be offered with ruggedized packaging across the board for redundant protection against ‘tin-whiskering’ and robust support for military assembly processes to ensure the highest quality possible for mission-critical applications.

The breadth of the Virtex-5Q family is unique in the A&D industry with four domain-specific FPGA families, offering an extensive selection of part and package options. The new family consists of defense-grade devices selected from the 65nm Virtex-5 LX and LXT family for high performance logic with connectivity including multi-gigabit serial transceivers, Virtex-5 SXT family for DSP, and Virtex-5 FXT family for embedded processing.

These devices deliver a scalable mix of performance up to 500 MHz, densities up to 330,000 logic cells, and flexible embedded processing and high-speed connectivity capabilities.

In addition, Xilinx is working closely with packaging, board and bare die suppliers, including Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc. (EI), ISI/Nallatech, and Teledyne Microelectronics, to provide A&D developers with multiple form factor options.

Developers also have the added flexibility of prototyping with commercial grade devices and moving between defense-grade FPGA families to select the optimal device(s) based on system requirements and product lifecycle mandates.

Secure communications targeted design platform
SCC combines the functionality of multiple FPGAs into a single device, enabling A&D product developers to reduce the size, weight, power and cost (SWAP-C) of systems through higher levels of integration.

Xilinx first pioneered programmable SCC technologies with previous generations of FPGAs and is now extending its leadership with development of a comprehensive targeted design platform for secure communications. At the heart of the innovations introduced with this platform are the Virtex-5Q devices with the embedded PowerPC 440 processor, tamper-proofing capabilities and intellectual property (IP) block, and Xilinx’s isolation verification tool.

A&D product developers can begin developing systems today with Virtex-5Q FPGAs and the Xilinx targeted design platform for secured communications applications. Select members of the Virtex-5Q device portfolio are now in production for the Virtex-5Q LX, LXT and SXT families.

Shipments of Virtex-5Q FXT FPGAs will commence in the second quarter of 2009. All devices can be ordered in a variety of packaging options and in bare die form. Details on pricing and delivery lead times are available through Xilinx sales representatives.