Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGAs Consume Less Than 1/10th The Power Of Competing FPGAs

January 20, 2005

Up to 94% lower in-rush power with smart configuration and up to 78% lower static power enabled by FPGA industry's first 90nm triple-oxide technology

Xilinx, Inc., the world's leading supplier of programmable logic solutions, today unveiled new data based on characterization of thousands of devices that reveals the substantial low power advantages of the Virtex-4 multi-platform FPGA family. Virtex-4 devices consume up to 94 percent lower in-rush power at start up, and up to 78 percent lower static power consumption, as compared to any competing 90nm FPGA. This significant power reduction is achieved through unique power-saving configuration circuitry and the use of 90nm triple-oxide technology. The power consumption advantages inherent to Virtex-4 FPGAs reduce system power supply and cooling loads, improving long-term system reliability and lowering total system costs. Designers can benefit from this power reduction while still achieving the highest levels of performance in the industry.

"Based on customer feedback, we carefully designed the Virtex-4 family to provide a significant power reduction over traditional 90nm devices. Today, we're rolling out the devices at a brisk pace, with five Virtex-4 family members shipping in less than two quarters of introduction," said Erich Goetting, vice president and general manager of the Advanced Products Division. "Our customers are now reaping the low-power benefits of this new family while still exploiting it's leading-edge performance and advanced feature set."

Virtex-4 Power Data Available Now

The latest power data for Virtex-4 devices is available in the Virtex-4 data sheet, located at: http://direct.xilinx.com/bvdocs/publications/ds302.pdf

About Xilinx Virtex-4 Platform FPGAs

Enabled by the revolutionary ASMBL (Advanced Silicon Modular Block) architecture and advanced 90nm triple-oxide technology, Virtex-4 FPGAs deliver more options, higher performance and lower power than any other FPGA family available today. With more than 100 technical innovations, the Virtex-4 family consists of 17 devices and three domain-optimized platforms; Virtex-4 LX FPGAs optimized for logic-intensive designs, Virtex-4 SX FPGAs optimized for high-performance signal processing, and Virtex-4 FX FPGAs optimized for high-speed serial connectivity and embedded processing. A multi-platform approach makes it possible for customers to select the optimal mix of resources for their application to achieve the highest functionality and breakthrough performance at the lowest cost. Devices are shipping now.