IP News FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
XILINX AND APPLIED TELECOM ANNOUNCE $15 IMA SOLUTION
FOR SPARTAN?-II FPGAS
Cost-effective Spartan-II implementation competes directly with ASSPs
SAN JOSE, Calif., January 17, 2000-Xilinx Inc., (NASDAQ:XLNX) and Applied Telecom, Inc. today announced the immediate availability of an eight-channel Inverse Multiplexer for ATM (IMA) core for use with the new Xilinx Spartan-II FPGAs. The new IMA-8 core developed, sold and supported by AllianceCORE partner Applied Telecom, further expands the penetration of the application specific standard product (ASSP) marketplace by the Spartan-II family.
Applied Telecom's new Spartan-II based IMA-8 solution can support up to eight channels, and targets network access systems such as adapters and switches with an emphasis on low-cost applications typically served by ASSP vendors. The IMA market, according to Dataquest Inc., San Jose, Calif., reached $2.8 billion in 1998 with prospects of increasing by 21 percent per year.
"Mariner Networks uses Applied Telecom's IMA solution for the Dexter product line of access concentrators," said David Scheel, president and CEO of Mariner Networks. "We have confidently used this solution for over a year in our IMA module products, which have been successfully deployed in applications around the world. The new Spartan-II version of this IMA solution provides us with design flexibility and time-to-market advantages, at a lower cost than existing ASSPs."
Programmable ASSP at half the ASSP cost
Applied Telecomâs Spartan-II IMA-8 solution cuts the costs by half, in comparison with typical off-the-shelf 8-channel IMA ASSPs available in the market today. IMA is still an emerging technology with limited test equipment support and compliance test suites. An FPGA-based IMA solution, with efficient partitioning of hardware and software functions, provides the necessary scalability and flexibility to handle all applications and adapt to changing standards.
"Telecom and networking companies require an integrated IMA solution with FPGA-like flexibility at ASSP price points," said Jim Beatty, president of Applied Telecom. "Our IMA-8 core uses Spartan-II features such as BlockRAM?, true dual port RAMs, ROMs, and tristate buffers to achieve the required integration and performance. This combination of density, system-level features and pricing of the new Spartan-II family creates the perfect solution for system manufacturers."
Standardized solution for IMA applications
The IMA-8 core has been field proven, refined and validated by multiple rounds of extensive testing at the InterOperability Lab at the University of New Hampshire, the facility used by telecom vendors to verify the interoperability of their products. First standardized by the ATM Forum in 1997, and recently updated in 1999, IMA is applicable to both public and private networks and allows end users to enjoy the many benefits of ATM. IMA applications include:
- Transmission of a high-bandwidth stream of ATM cells over multiple T1 or E1 facilities.
- ATM Wide Area Network (WAN) access equipment, including ATM switches and routers.
- ATM access concentrators, multiplexers and communication servers.
- WAN interface for general purpose access multiplexers, traffic aggregators and access switches.
- Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs), where IMA can be used to interconnect the DSLAM with a remote access multiplexer as the high-speed network interface.
- Spartan-II FPGAs
The Spartan-II family delivers 100,000 system gates for under $10 at speeds of 200 MHz and beyond, offering unmatched design flexibility. These low-powered 2.5-volt devices feature I/Os that operate at up to 3.3 volts with full 5-volt tolerance. Spartan-II devices also feature multiple Delay Lock Loops (DLLs), on-chip RAM (block and distributed) and the versatility of Select I/O technology supporting over 16 high-performance interface standards; all of this in a device that offers unlimited programmability and can even be upgraded in the field.
"The Spartan-II family, combined with its vast soft IP portfolio, is the first programmable logic solution in the industry to effectively penetrate the ASSP marketplace," said Robert Bielby, Xilinx director of strategic applications. "Applied Telecom's IMA-8 solution ported to the Spartan-II device highlights the value of a programmable ASSP. The combined solution competes very effectively on cost and features against stand-alone ASSP solutions."
Availability and Pricing
The IMA-8 core is immediately available for use in Spartan-II FPGAs. An evaluation board and the DRV-IMA software are also available now. All IMA products can be purchased directly from Applied Telecom. The datasheet can be downloaded from the Xilinx IP Center (www.xilinx.com/ipcenter), a comprehensive resource for system-level intellectual property and services. The Spartan-II XC2S150 FPGA with 150,000 system gates lists for $15* in high volumes.
About Applied Telecom
Applied Telecom, Inc. is a leading supplier of embedded communications products and technologies that meet the needs of communications equipment and semiconductor device manufacturers. The technical focus includes but is not limited to communications standards such as SONET/SDH, PDH and ATM. Software and hardware products from Applied Telecom provide vital standards-compliant system functions and are designed with well-defined interfaces and features to work in many different system architectures and applications. For more information, visit the Applied Telecom website at www.apptel.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 website at www.xilinx.com.
*Based upon volume projections of 250k units, -5 speed, FG256 package, End of 2000
