Xilinx launches signal integrity website

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24 October 2001 Analogue, Mixed Signal, LSI

Xilinx has announced what it says is the first website dedicated to signal integrity and the challenges engineers face as they design high-speed logic.

The Xilinx Signal Integrity Central site ( www.xilinx.com/products/signal_integrity.html) provides information on the fundamentals of signal integrity; PC board design and power supply considerations, simulation tools; and thermal characteristics.

"Engineers face far more difficult engineering challenges today than they did just a few years ago. Feature size reduction, and the need for reduced power consumption, have driven core voltages down from the old standard of 5 V to the 1,5 V range. This change in voltage and signal frequency content requires us to use new design practices and take into account electrical effects that could previously be ignored," said Erich Goetting, Vice President and General Manager of the Xilinx Advanced Products Division. "Xilinx is addressing these technical issues to help get design engineers over the technical hurdles and allow them to complete their designs quickly."

Signal integrity issues in high-performance designs have become a major concern in many companies. According to the company, with frequencies above 300 MHz and rise times of a few hundred picoseconds, engineers are now facing noise and signal reflections that complicate PC board design. These challenges affect performance, system development, and product introduction schedules.

Xilinx created the site to provide the necessary information to engineers to make the right design choices. They can also obtain the background to develop a cost-effective design with the minimum number of components. Previously, engineers could over- design a system. For example, to achieve acceptable levels of power supply noise, an excessive number of capacitors would be used - needlessly increasing cost and board complexity. Conversely, high performance designs that work in the lab could become problematic when stressed by changing environmental conditions.

For further information see www.xilinx.com/products/signal_integrity.html, or contact Kobus Botes, Memec SA, (021) 674 4103, [email protected]

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Xilinx launches signal integrity website

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