This new, I/O-optimized family of FPGAs is an extension of the Xilinx low-cost, high-volume Spartan-3 generation. Synthesis support for Spartan-3A FPGAs is available now in Precision® Synthesis, release 2006a. Support within the LeonardoSpectrum tool suite will follow.

"Xilinx continues to produce innovative products, and Spartan-3A is no exception," said Simon Bloch, general manager, Mentor Graphics Design Creation and Synthesis Division. "Customers considering Spartan-3A FPGAs for their applications will benefit from the advanced design optimization and analysis capabilities offered by Precision Synthesis to further reduce costs by accelerating the overall design process."

Over the past several months, the companies began working on support for the new Spartan-3A FPGA family within the Mentor Graphics® family of synthesis tools. "We value highly the support we are getting for our new Spartan-3A family of FPGAs within Precision Synthesis," said Sandeep Vij, vice president of world-wide marketing for Xilinx. "Mentor Graphics is the leader in FPGA design, and their support will allow our mutual customers to maximize the benefits of using our new family."

Precision Synthesis forms the centerpiece of Mentor Graphics FPGA flow - the industry's most comprehensive vendor-independent solution for FPGA design. With advanced support for ASIC prototyping (support for DesignWare® libraries, SDC constraints, gated-clock handling, etc.) plus advanced implementation and optimization techniques such as automatic mapping and inferencing of dedicated DSP and RAM blocks, Precision Synthesis is uniquely suited to handle today's high-end FPGAs. In addition, Precision Synthesis features an award-winning design analysis capability, allowing designers to cross-probe between multiple views as well as perform interactive static timing for rapid "what-if" analyses. Precision Synthesis reduces design iterations, and enables faster, more predictable completion of designs, while delivering high quality of results.

By Mentor Graphics