Xilinx 7 series FPGAs Pack 2 Million Logic Cells in 28nm

Xilinx introduced its 7 series FPGAs boasting greater power efficiency and a capacity of up to 2 million logic cells on a unified architecture that scales across low-cost to ultra high-end applications, ranging from portable ultrasound equipment consuming less than 2 watts and automobile infotainment systems driven by 12 volts, as well as low-cost LTE baseband and femtocell base stations. The Virtex-7 family delivers a 2X system performance improvement at 50 percent lower power compared to Virtex-6 devices.


"The 7 series represents a new juncture for Xilinx, and the FPGA industry in general, as we bring our technology portfolio to new markets by putting a significant emphasis on lowering power consumption," said Xilinx President and CEO Moshe Gavrielov. "In addition to delivering what we and our customers expect from Moore's Law in terms of capacity and performance with each new generation, we continue our focus on opening programmable logic to a broader audience by delivering design platforms targeted toward the specific needs of new users and markets."


The 28nm families extend Xilinx's Targeted Design Platform strategy introduced with the company's 40nm Virtex-6 and 45nm Spartan-6 FPGA families, now in volume production.


Power efficiency is achieved by adopting a unique HKMG (high-K metal gate) process optimized for low static power consumption. The devices use the same logic architecture, Block RAM, clocking technology, DSP slices, and SelectIO technology and build on previous generations of devices delivered by Xilinx's patented Virtex series ASMBL block architecture.


Initial devices will be available in Q1 of CY2011.
http://www.xilinx.com/7