1. Spartan-II + Soft IP = Programmable ASSP
High Volume Business Unit
Xilinx Corporation

2. Programmable ASSP - Value
Benefits
Time to Market
Flexibility
Product customization to meet customer needs
Adapt to specification updates
Feature upgrades
Low risk evaluation of new markets
Field upgradability
H/W and S/W upgradability opens new applications
Efficiently address lower volume strategic applications
Distribution and inventory management

3. ASSP Replacement Dynamics
Flexibility
System Features
ASSP
Spartan FPGAs migrate to higher densities to handle system features
Maintaining low cost
ASSP’s attempting to offer flexibility
Differentiation need due to market pressures
Available ASSP’s require programmable logic
Changing system standards
ASSP’s have large role in consumer, networking & data-processing
Where Spartan FPGAs are successful
PCI is the first successful ASSP competition

4. Higher Density Enables New Applications
Spartan-III
250K
$10
Spartan-II
100K
Spartan-XL
40K
System Gates
Ethernet MAC
Cable Modem
Video Line Buffer
30K
Graphics Card
The major point of this slide is that for any given price level, Xilinx will be offering more density over time.
For example, while $10 can buy 100K gates in In the year 2003, $10 is projected to buy 500K gates.
PCI-MIPS Bridge
ATM IMA
Office Networking
32-bit, 33-MHz PCI
Reed Solomon Encoder
HDLC
UARTs
Set-Top Box
FIFOs
PALs
64 Bit PCI
Embedded μP Apps

5. A Successful Programmable ASSP
$20
External PLD 64K Gates
$15
36% of XC2S100-4
Standard Chip PCI Master I/F
Component cost 100K units
$10
64K Gates Logic
XC2S30XL Percentage of Effective
Core Function Price Device Used Function Cost
UART $ % $1.00
16-bit RISC Processor $ % $2.20
16-bit, 16-tap $ % $1.60
Symmetrical FIR Filter
Reed-Solomon Encoder $6.00 6% $0.36
LogiCORE PCI64 $ % $3.15
(in PQ208) $5
PCI Master I/F
Standard Chip
Solution <$10

6. Programmable ASSP Advantages
Accommodate Specification Changes
Testing and Verification
Xilinx On-line - Field Upgradability
Issues in creating a stand-alone ASSP

7. Accommodate Specification Changes
Emerging Markets are exposed to multiple standards and specification changes
DSL Modem market
6 different variations
DTV market
18 different formats
Stand-alone ASSP Vendor
Market
A Programmable ASSP Future Proof’s Success

8. Testing and Verification
What do I do if my stand-alone ASSP does not perform as expected?
Silicon Bug?
Software driver?
System Integration Issue?
User Error?
Programmable ASSPs are built on a proven FPGA technology
Pre-verified silicon and guaranteed performance
HDL simulators & test benches
Chip-Scope - Run-time debug tools
Probe any internal signal
A Programmable ASSP is “Re-programmable”!
Risk aversion is a tremendous value-add

9. Xilinx On-line Field Upgradability
A paradigm shift is being innovated by Xilinx
Remote update of Software and Hardware
Results in increased lifetime for a product
Considerable maintenance and support savings
Enable product features per end-user needs
Opening up new opportunities in the ASSP area

10. Issues in creating a stand-alone ASSP
Choosing the right ASSP
It is difficult identifying the right market and creating the right product for it
Cost of creating a solution for the wrong market, or for a market that has moved is expensive
Product Customization
ASSPs traditionally fall into two camps
Overdesigned - results in increased cost
Underdesigned - requiring a PLD for product customization

11. Issues in creating a stand-alone ASSP
Development cost and amortization
Stand-alone ASSPs have high NRE and engineering costs
Mask charges for a 0.18-mm process can vary anywhere from $125K to $300K
Spartan-II family has amortized cost by selling to the traditional PLD marketplace
Their capability to act as a programmable ASSP does not increase product cost
This allows programmable ASSPs to cost-effectively compete against stand-alone ASSPs
A programmable ASSP is unaffected by hurdles
stand-alone ASSPs face, resulting in
cost-effective solutions

12. Spartan-II FPGAs Displace ASSPs
Three Camps…
Feature-Replacement ASSPs
ASSPs that Spartan-II FPGAs replace by virtue of its features
Logic-Replacement ASSPs
Generic ASSPs like HDLC, UARTs, PCI Bridges solutions
Market Targeted ASSPs like Reed-Solomon, Viterbi, solutions
Value-Added ASSPs
Xilinx solutions that open up new market opportunities
Synthesizable processors, PCI-X Controllers
Solutions that specifically take advantage of specific features
In all instances a Spartan-II solution is cost-effective
and competes successfully against stand-alone ASSPs

13. Feature-Replacement ASSPs

14. Logic-Replacement ASSPs

15. Value-Added ASSPs

16. High Volume System Integration
SSTL3
GTL+
5-volt tolerant I/O
SDRAM
QDR
SRAMs
MIPS mP
2x CLK
PCI
Clock Mgmt - Board deskew
PLL
$7.50
PCI Master/
Target Controller
$15
SSTL-3 Translators $4
FIFOs
Memory
Dual
Ports $7 $2
PCI-MIPS System Controller
$40 $6
Backplane
Drivers
HSTL Translators
Key Points:
Virtex moves the FPGA from glue to system level component by addressing more than the logic needs of the designer. It helps the designer with a solution for board level challenges previously left to the designer solve with external components.
Virtex FPGA is the perfect programmable system integration vehicle, providing high bandwidth communication interface to external devices such as CPUs, memory, and backplane and eliminates the need for custom logic, expensive clock management schemes, and various translator components including direct interface to backplanes with its GTL I/O capability.

17. Additional Information
Xilinx At Work website
Application Notes
White Papers
Reference Designs
Market Overviews
Glossary
IP Center
IP cores and services
FPGA Strategic Applications Group
Applications group dedicated to providing system level expertise
There is a considerable amount of support and documentation available from Xilinx including Applications Notes and White Papers. The Xilinx at Work web site also contains a wealth of information for creating programmable ASSPs.
The FPGA Strategic Applications group can also be used to provide vertical market system solutions. This group is dedicated to providingsystem level expertise for various target vertical markets.