Xilinx Virtex-6 and Spartan-6 FPGA Connectivity targeted reference designs support PCI Express-compliant designs

SAN JOSE, USA: Xilinx Inc. has announced that its Spartan-6 and Virtex-6 FPGA Connectivity Targeted Reference Designs are PCI Express compliant, offering developers a comprehensive, real-world example to reference for their next high-speed Serial I/O design.

As part of Xilinx's Connectivity Targeted Design Platform, the reference designs help enable fast deployment of customer end-product systems by giving designers the resources they need to focus their design time on differentiation.

"Xilinx recognized early the importance of providing proven PCIe solutions that allow customers to easily incorporate the capability without spending months of learning and evaluation," said Xilinx Director of Platform Marketing Brent Przybus.

"The Spartan-6 FPGA and Virtex-6 FPGA Connectivity Targeted Design Platforms are designed to provide out-of-the-box working PCIe connectivity solutions to enable designers to quickly connect and focus on the rest of the system. The validation through compliance of these Targeted Design Platforms in addition to compliance of blocks and transceiver technology with PCIe standards reinforce our commitment to the underlying technology and making it easily accessible to customers."

In the May 25, 2010 PCI-SIG Compliance Workshop #71, Xilinx's Spartan-6 FPGA Connectivity Targeted Reference Design passed the PCI-SIG compliance and interoperability testing for PCIe 1.1 single-lane configuration with on-chip GTP serial transceivers running at 2.5 Gbps.

The Virtex-6 FPGA Connectivity Targeted Reference Design passed PCI-SIG compliance and interoperability testing for PCIe 2.0 x4-lane Gen2 configuration with the GTX Serial transceivers running at 5 Gbps.

Both Targeted Reference Designs provide designers with a sophisticated, high-performance platform for advanced Serial I/O design for use in applications such as wired communications systems, wireless infrastructure, audio, video, broadcast, industrial, automotive infotainment, aerospace, defense and high-end consumer devices.

Continued Momentum of PCI Express via Connectivity Targeted Design Platforms
Xilinx has demonstrated continued leadership in the FPGA industry in support of PCI Express solutions for more than eight years.

Xilinx was the first to integrate compliant PCIe version 1.1 blocks into programmable devices with its Virtex-5 family and has continued its momentum of PCIe support by achieving PCI-SIG compliance with Virtex-6 and Spartan-6 FPGA devices. Since that time, Xilinx has been able to offer developers the highest performance PCI Express interface through its FPGAs, while also delivering the lowest power integrated PCIe block in a device.

Xilinx's Connectivity Targeted Design Platforms enable the fastest deployment of customer end-product systems across the serial spectrum – mainstream through ultra-high end – and provide valuable benefits for architecting high-speed Serial I/O applications.

Xilinx is committed to providing connectivity development tools, methodologies, IP and support through its Targeted Design Platforms. The Targeted Design Platform for connectivity brings these elements together into productized solutions that accelerate development for experienced users and simplifies the adoption of FPGAs for new users.

Targeted Reference Designs available
The PCIe DMA-Gigabit Ethernet targeted reference design is integrated and included with the Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA Connectivity Kit for $1,995.

The PCIe 10G DMA-XAUI targeted reference design is integrated and included with the Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA Connectivity Kit for $2,495.