Flexibility of FPGA-based platform enables broadcast OEMs to accelerate time-to-market with 'future proofed' next-generation Video over IP systems

AMSTERDAM, Sept. 6, 2012 — (PRNewswire) — Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) and its Certified Xilinx Alliance Program Member, Barco Silex, announced today at IBC 2012 (Hall 10, Stand #10.B25) their collaboration to ease the development of video over IP solutions with a comprehensive platform combining hardware-validated IP, reference designs and systems integration services supporting Xilinx's All Programmable FPGAs and SoCs. The new initiative will enable broadcast equipment OEMs to accelerate product development and add the latest video over IP capabilities to their existing products and those currently in development.

"The broadcaster's migration to IP-based infrastructures is complicated as industry standards are in a state-of-flux, which in turn puts pressure on equipment manufacturers to implement these emerging standards. Manufacturers can now benefit from a 'one-stop-shop' for a comprehensive FPGA-based platform to develop 'future proof' IP video solutions," said Ben Runyan, director of broadcast and consumer segment marketing at Xilinx.  "Not only can these manufacturers leverage the reprogrammable nature of Xilinx's 7 series FPGAs to ensure their products can comply with changes to standards, our programmable platform can speed product development and enable OEMs to focus on innovative features and functionality."

"This collaboration plays to the strengths of both companies and will clearly benefit broadcast equipment OEMs who need to accelerate the development of new IP-based video solutions that can adapt to changes in critical standards, specifications and protocols," said Thierry Watteyne, CEO of Barco Silex.  "Together, Barco Silex and Xilinx offer manufacturers a truly best-of-breed platform that combines hardware-validated IP and reference designs complemented by the extensive systems integration and design services we can provide."

The first platform offering is based on Xilinx's 28nm 7 series of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), which is made up of three new families that collectively address the complete range of OEMs system requirements – from low-cost, high-volume applications to the most demanding high-performance applications. The 7 series devices are the programmable silicon foundation for Xilinx's Targeted Design Platforms (TDPs) that enable broadcast OEMs to focus on product innovation and differentiation.

Barco Silex's primary role in this effort will be to serve as the system integrator.  Specifically, Barco Silex will be responsible for integrating a wide range of IP cores from Xilinx (SMPTE 2022, SMPTE SDI, Ethernet MACs) and Barco Silex (JPEG2000, high-performance memory controller) and solving the inherent system integration difficulties in shared memory systems with multiple IP blocks, and ultimately stitching multiple video streams together into a working system.  By incorporating solutions to these challenges in system-level reference designs, Xilinx and Barco Silex will enable customers to get their products to market much faster. 

Broadcast equipment OEMs can also take advantage of the extensive design services that Barco Silex offers, should extra channels, features or capabilities be required, if designs must be tailored more closely to requirements or if customers need to further accelerate the product development process.

The joint platform supports faster product design through the integration of video interfaces, processing and compression cores as well as the integration of different video over IP protocol standards (such as SMPTE 2022).  Additionally, the platform enables the integration of multiple channels of video over IP, which can dramatically increase the number of channels supported in each rack unit.  This increased channel density can reduce overall system cost through real estate savings, as well as potential power savings through having fewer devices and cards supporting the same number of channels in more dense architectures.

The platform is well suited for several products, most notably:

• Video over IP bridges
• Routers and production switchers
• Encoders

About Barco-Silex

Barco Silex is a leader in contract engineering services, custom hardware and software development, as well as Intellectual Property (IP). Thanks to its continued stream of aggressive innovations, Barco Silex stays ahead of the competition. Barco Silex's history as a custom electronic design house (ASIC, FPGA, DSP, Board) specialized in video coding, cryptography, security and memory controllers goes back to 1991. Barco Silex offers the best guarantee for continuous support throughout the complete lifecycle of products.

For more information about Barco Silex's portfolio of advanced IP cores, please contact Email Contact or visit www.barco-silex.com.

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the world's leading provider of All Programmable FPGAs, SoCs and 3D ICs. These industry-leading devices are coupled with a next-generation design environment and IP to serve a broad range of customer needs, from programmable logic to programmable systems integration. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.

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