BusinessWire
November 01, 2005 06:40 AM US Pacific Timezone

Avnet Electronics Marketing Launches New SpeedWay Workshop Series Featuring Virtex-4-Based Embedded Processing and DSP Solutions from Xilinx

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 1, 2005--Designers, developers and engineers interested in leveraging the Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGA architecture and system-level design tools to build embedded processing and DSP applications can get hands-on experience by attending one of Avnet Electronics Marketing's new SpeedWay Design Workshops(TM). Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT), is currently offering these workshops across North America.

Avnet's SpeedWay workshops offer in-depth technical training to participants with practical "how-to" tutorials and labs on the latest embedded processing and DSP technologies from Xilinx.

Engineers at Avnet have developed five different labs based on real-world experience implementing Virtex-4 capabilities into innovative applications. The labs will help FPGA designers, embedded software developers, and hardware/software engineers apply powerful, FPGA-based embedded processing and DSP concepts to real-world applications.

The diverse five course lineup includes:

Implementing Hardware Acceleration in Virtex-4 -- This workshop demonstrates how a Floating Point Unit (FPU) core can be added to a system through the APU interface using the latest features in the Xilinx Platform Studio tool, and verifying the design on a Virtex-4 FX12 development board.

Development with Embedded Linux on the Virtex-4 FX -- This workshop provides step-by-step instructions to fill in the gaps encountered by Linux users without a background in embedded development. Participants will also learn how to add new applications to the file system and incorporate the Universal Boot Loader (U-Boot) to create a self-contained system.

An Introduction to DSP in Xilinx FPGAs -- A review of basic DSP building blocks and their implementation in the Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGA family: adder, subtractor, multiplier and MAC, with an introduction to the Virtex-4 DSP48 slice. This hands-on lab covers basic signal processing in Simulink/System Generator with an introduction to hardware co-simulation with the Avnet Virtex-4 SX MB development board.

Using the UltraController-II -- By using the UltraController-II, designers can easily leverage the immersed PowerPC 405 core in the Virtex-4 FX FPGA family. This course reviews the pre-configured, general purpose UltraController-II architecture and walks participants through the steps of creating and running an example system.

An Introduction to EDK and the PowerPC -- The growth of FPGA-based embedded processors presents both opportunity and challenges for current FPGA designers. This course will teach users how to architect a PowerPC(R)-based system using the latest Embedded Developers Kit (EDK 7.1) from Xilinx.

"Using a Virtex-4 for high-performance DSP and embedded processing applications dramatically increases the capabilities and performance for a variety of applications," said Ed Smith, senior vice president of sales for Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. "This SpeedWay Workshop Series is a must-attend event for designers looking to harness Xilinx FPGA solutions in their next design."

"Avnet SpeedWay Design workshops deliver a best-in-class learning experience for designers looking to get a deeper understanding of the unique capabilities of the Virtex-4 platform FPGA," said David Stieg, senior director of Distribution Marketing for Xilinx. "These workshops will enable customers to quickly adopt embedded processing and DSP solutions from Xilinx to deliver high-performance, flexible products to market faster and at lower cost."

Attendees of the SpeedWay Design workshops will be eligible for special discounts on a suite of select Avnet Design Kits. These kits, which also serve as the basis for the hands-on labs, provide an affordable and easy-to-use platform for exploring and prototyping Virtex-4 design concepts. Designers can jump-start their learning at the workshop and then leverage the concepts learned in their own design environment using a specially priced kit.

Customers can register today for the workshop series, which is free of charge for customers who purchase any one of the promotional bundles; the cost of the workshop without a kit purchase is $99.

To register for these workshops and for complete details, visit www.em.avnet.com/fallspeedway.

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the worldwide leader in complete programmable logic solutions. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.

About Avnet Electronics Marketing

Avnet Electronics Marketing is the largest operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet Inc., a Fortune 500 company. Avnet Electronics Marketing serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in 68 countries, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services. The group's Web site is located at http://www.em.avnet.com.

Avnet enables success from the center of the technology industry, providing cost-effective services and solutions vital to a broad base of more than 100,000 customers and 300 suppliers. The company markets, distributes and adds value to a wide variety of electronic components, enterprise computer products and embedded subsystems. Through its premier market position, Avnet brings a breadth and depth of capabilities that help its trading partners accelerate growth and realize cost efficiencies. Avnet and the company it acquired in July 2005, Memec Group Holdings Limited, together generated more than $13 billion in revenue in the past year through sales in 68 countries. Visit www.avnet.com/.