Date: 23/06/2009

Xilinx crypto powered Virtex-5Q FPGAs targets Indian aerospace and defense market

The top 1 programmable-logic semiconductor device vendor Xilinx has released Virtex-5Q family of field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) for the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry. Virtex-5Q FPGA family with single-chip cryptography (SCC) feature is targeted at secure communications systems.

The SCC feature gives a competitive edge to Virtex-5Q FPGAs over traditional Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP) approaches, making them a better choice for secure communications applications, as well as for electronic warfare, aircraft and transport vehicles; C4ISR systems (Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance); radar; and missiles and munitions.

"India's aerospace and defense (A&D) industry is a fast growing sector. There is an increased focus by the government and private sector to design and develop complex, indigenous systems for military, space research and civil applications for domestic and global markets," said Neeraj Varma, Country Manager - Sales, for India and Australia and New Zealand at Xilinx. We believe there is huge potential for Xilinx's Virtex-5Q FPGA family in a wide range of high-performance solutions including battlefield surveillance, radar, aircraft, satellite and complex image processing solutions. Xilinx is a market leader and our customers significantly benefit from our in-depth market knowledge, key development partnerships and proven track record of technology leadership in programmable logic devices."

This above comment clearly indicates the growing trends of complex semiconductor device market in India. It can be a FPGA such as this or multi-core processor integrated System on Chi p (SoC) device.

Xilinx claims, The Virtex-5Q family is the first defense-grade FPGA family to be offered with ruggedized packaging across the board for redundant protection against 'tin-whiskering' and robust support for military assembly processes to ensure the highest quality possible for mission-critical applications.

Virtex-5Q family is offered in four domain-specific FPGA families, offering an extensive selection of part and package options. The new family consists of defense-grade devices selected from the 65-nanometer Virtex-5 LX and LXT family for high performance logic with connectivity including multi-gigabit serial transceivers, Virtex-5 SXT family for digital signal processing (DSP), and Virtex-5 FXT family for embedded system processing. These devices deliver a scalable mix of performance up to 500 MHz, densities up to 330,000 logic cells, and flexible embedded processing and high-speed connectivity capabilities.

In addition, Xilinx is working closely with packaging, board and bare die suppliers, including Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc. (EI), ISI/Nallatech, and Teledyne Microelectronics, to provide A&D developers with multiple form factor options. Developers also have the added flexibility of prototyping with commercial grade devices and moving between defense-grade FPGA families to select the optimal device(s) based on system requirements and product lifecycle mandates.

For more details visit www.xilinx.com