Joint Effort Targets Denali Memory Controller Intellectual Property for Xilinx FPGAs
PHOENIX & PALO ALTO, Calif -- April 30, 2002 -- Avnet Design Services (ADS), the technical arm of Avnet Electronics Marketing, and Denali Software, the world leader in memory system development, today announce their agreement to develop and distribute memory controller Intellectual Property (IP) Cores for high-speed DRAM. Denali's Databahn™ product will be used to generate the high-level language description of memory controller cores. ADS will then target these cores to Xilinx FPGA devices and produce customer ready IP cores. ADS will be Denali's exclusive distribution channel for these new products.
High Performance Memory System Design
The extreme data-bandwidth requirements of networking, communications, and consumer electronics, combined with the new generation of complex DRAM components, make the memory system one of the most challenging elements of chip design today. As part of the memory system, an on-chip memory controller must be able to understand the timing and protocol of these off-chip memory devices so that data can be transferred between the chip and the external memory. But most importantly, the memory system must implement sophisticated logic to interpret the multiple streams of data and data requests from the system, and then determine the optimum procedure for getting that data in and out of memory--all within the bandwidth and latency requirements of the system.
Databahn Technology
Denali's Databahn product was specifically designed to produce robust memory system IP that can leverage the latest DRAM memories to meet user-specified performance requirements. System architects use Databahn's online configuration interface to select system interface options and set performance requirements. For selecting memory devices, the Databahn configuration engine is integrated to Denali's eMemory.com where it searches a database of over 4,000 memory component specifications for compatibility. Alternatively, the system architect can specify a target memory by vendor, speed, or size, which enables the configuration engine to identify the unique features of the target memories, and then optimize the memory controller IP accordingly. Once the desired configuration is reached, the designer can initiate a simulation on the IP to validate performance estimates, and then download the synthesizable IP core for use in the system design.
"Avnet Design Services is very pleased about this joint effort," said Warren Miller, vice president of marketing for Avnet Design Services. "Denali has demonstrated a great deal of experience, expertise, and customer success. For memory system design, Denali is the industry leader, and we see a lot of potential for this relationship."
The Joint Solution
Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will target a specific set of high-speed DRAM devices, and then produce a number of memory controller cores optimized to work with those devices. The companies will work with memory vendors to select the set of memory devices for which the cores are optimized. Denali's Databahn product will be used to generate optimal memory controller IP for the selected DRAM devices. Avnet Design Services will implement the memory controller cores in Xilinx FPGAs, and produce reference boards and other integration materials. Denali's MMAV™ verification IP product will be used for functional verification of the memory controller cores in the reference designs. The cores and reference boards will be marketed and sold exclusively by Avnet. The initial products that result from this agreement will be announced later this quarter.
"Avnet Design Services is providing the FPGA design expertise to implement the Databahn memory controller IP into Xilinx FPGAs," said Kevin Silver, vice president of marketing for Denali. "Avnet Design Services will create and support reference designs for the Databahn IP, and in addition to customer support, it will offer FPGA design services for custom modifications or integrations. Through this partnership, customers are getting an integrated solution from the industry leaders in memory controller IP, FPGA technology, and FPGA design services."
"These new intellectual property cores from Denali and Avnet Design Services will greatly aid our customers in the system level design using the Virtex-IITM series FPGAs. In particular, we expect the Virtex-II and Virtex-II ProTM families to be used where high-performance and high-capacity memory works in close conjunction with platform FPGAs," said Sandeep Vij, vice president of Worldwide Marketing at Xilinx. The many years of experience Denali has with high-performance memory system design can now be embedded in IP cores that will directly benefit Xilinx customers."
Denali's memory market research services are typically bundled with Databahn™, its high-performance memory controller IP product. The memory research option provides customers with an unbiased look at the memory market from a design perspective. Dedicated analysts, memory vendor relationships, and leading indicators from its eMemory.com site provide Denali with a unique resource for customers who need to minimize cost, time to market, and risk associated with memory system design. The service includes vendor profiles, price and cost issues, supply assurance, technology roadmaps, and a monthly market status newsletter.
About Avnet Design Services
Avnet Design Services is the technical arm of Avnet Electronics Marketing, providing a variety of technical resources and capabilities to speed customers' design cycles and to get their products to market quicker. Field applications engineers (FAEs) are knowledgeable about a variety of potential applications solutions for customers' design problems and can guide engineers to the solution that is right for their particular applications. Fee-for-service engineering services, in FPGA, ASIC and System Design are offered to Avnet customers. For more information, visit the Avnet Design Services Web site at www.ads.avnet.com.
About Avnet Electronics Marketing
Avnet Electronics Marketing (EM) is the largest operating group of Phoenix, Ariz.-based Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), a Fortune 500 company with fiscal 2001 sales of $12.8 billion (year ended June 30, 2001). One of the world's largest distributors of semiconductors, interconnect, passive and electromechanical components from leading manufacturers, Avnet EM markets, inventories and adds value to these products and provides world-class supply-chain management and engineering design services. Avnet EM serves customers in 63 countries. The company's Web site is located at www.ads.avnet.com.
About Databahn
Databahn is the industry's first configurable memory processor core solution. With Databahn, designers can configure a custom memory processor core online, and then analyze the performance of their IP based on the memory access characteristics of their system and the type of memory components used. To ensure compatibility with all the latest DRAM memory technologies, Databahn's online configuration process is tightly integrated with a database of more than 4,000 memory components at www.eMemory.com. Designers also use the web-based interface to automatically generate and download the synthesizable memory processor IP and related verification suite. In addition to customer configured memory processor cores, the Databahn solution offers optional support for memory market research to aid in memory selection, and optional support for custom I/O pads to overcome high-speed physical implementation issues. Databahn is currently licensed for use in over 16 customer design efforts in high-performance networking and consumer electronics applications, and the quality is proven in silicon.
About Denali Software, Inc.
Denali Software Inc. is the world-leading provider of solutions for memory system selection, design, and implementation. Denali's eMemory.com is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source for memory component information, and houses an online infrastructure for its memory selection, memory controller IP, and memory simulation products. Denali also offers memory market research services, which provides customers with the most unbiased and forward-looking information on the technology and economics of semiconductor memories. More than 400 companies worldwide use Denali's tools, technology, and services to plan and develop memory systems for communications, consumer, and computer products. For more information, contact Denali at www.denalisoft.com, or call (650) 325-7241.
Other brands and names are the property of their respective owners.
For more information about Denali, contact:
Jonah McLeod, Denali Software, (650) 325-7241 ext 19, jmcleod@denali.com
-or-
Bill Davies, Avnet Design Services (480) 643-7845 bill.davies@avnet.com
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