Xilinx and China Mobile Research Institute Collaborate on Virtualized 5G Wireless Networks Development

Companies signed agreement at the 2014 International Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Sept. 15, 2014 -- Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) announced its collaboration with China Mobile Research Institute for the development of virtualized 5G wireless networks in a special signing ceremony during the 5G Forum at the International Mobile Internet Conference on August 15. As 4G wireless networks are being deployed around the world, Xilinx and the world's largest wireless operator, China Mobile, are working together on virtualization advancements for next generation 5G systems to address challenges faced by wireless operators.

"China Mobile has been working on new technologies like large scale antenna systems (LSAS) and cloud RAN virtualization (C-RAN) for several years. The realization of those new technologies requires a new level of flexibility and scalability that only all programmable platforms can offer," said Bill Huang, general manager of China Mobile Research Institute. "I believe the collaboration between China Mobile and Xilinx will accelerate the adoption of the industry's most advanced technologies and therefore help us deliver the highest quality service to Chinese customers in the mobile internet era."

In current cellular networks, subscribers at the edge of cells often experience poor service quality due to interference. 5G base stations will employ a large number of antennas to minimize the overall interference and improve both the user experience and network efficiency. Additionally, 5G wireless networks will include multiple radio access technologies that must coexist. As a result, network function virtualization (NFV) becomes a requirement for 5G, with hardware being abstracted and resources allocated dynamically for the required wireless functions.

Xilinx's unique All Programmable devices, design tools and methodologies are key enablers for virtualization technology. In particular, the company's innovations in partial reconfiguration (PR) allow equipment designers to create designs that can be altered in-system without interrupting the equipment operation. For example, new air interface waveforms can be switched in and out at speed to provide a cost effective alternative to building support for all air interface standards, saving power, cost and increasing system performance. Additionally, Xilinx® devices offer the industry's highest DSP performance to support massive MIMO along with high speed SerDes to move large amounts of data between equipment types.

"5G wireless network systems will be extremely complex, requiring tremendous signal processing power and high speed connectivity, and the realization of hardware virtualization. This can only be enabled through innovations in silicon, software and IP," said Sunil Kar, vice president of Wireless Communications at Xilinx. "Our close collaboration with China Mobile ensures Xilinx's technical innovations are aligned with the needs of the next generation wireless networks."

"The strength and capability of Xilinx's silicon portfolio is extremely important for the green initiatives of China Mobile's 5G wireless networks. We hope Xilinx plays a more important role in 5G base station development by enhancing programmable logic's advantages in power, performance, flexibility and cost," said Dr. Chih-Lin I, chief scientist of China Mobile Research Institute.

About Xilinx
Xilinx is the world's leading provider of All Programmable FPGAs, SoCs, and 3D ICs. These industry-leading devices are coupled with a next-generation design environment and IP to serve a broad range of customer needs, from programmable logic to programmable systems integration. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.