Xilinx Unveils 65nm Virtex-5 FPGAs

SmartDisk Introduces Portable HDD With An Always-On Display

ARM Launches Next-Generation Processor

AMD Launches Turion 64 X2

MSI Sells AMD X2 Notebooks

Xilinx Unveils 65nm Virtex-5 FPGAs

Xilinx unveiled its new Virtex-5 family of domain-optimized field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), built upon the 65-nanometer triple-oxide technology, new ExpressFabric technology and proven ASMBL architecture. Xilinx also announced initial shipments of the Virtex-5 LX Platform with future platforms to roll out over the next 18 months.

Based on the successful ASMBL (Advanced Silicon Modular Block) architecture, the Virtex-5 family includes four domain-optimized platforms for high-speed logic, digital signal processing (DSP), embedded processing and serial connectivity applications. Initial devices of the Virtex-5 LX Platform are shipping now with each of the remaining platforms slated for the second half of 2006 through the first half of 2007:

• Virtex-5 LX for high performance logic – Shipping Now
• Virtex-5 LXT for high performance logic with serial connectivity – H2'2006
• Virtex-5 SXT for high performance DSP with serial connectivity – H2'2006
• Virtex-5 FXT for embedded processing with serial connectivity – H1'2007

Source: Xilinx

SmartDisk Introduces Portable HDD With An Always-On Display

SmartDisk introduced FireLite XPress, the portable, palm-sized hard drive that includes a cholesteric liquid crystal display. The always-on display is readable without power, identifies the drive by a user-designated name, indicates the last date that information was recorded and provides a table of contents for the drive.

The display is claimed to provide excellent readability even in direct sunlight, allow for wide-angle viewing and exhibit high brightness and contrast.

Featuring sleek, metal casings for durability, FireLite drives are palm-sized and weigh about six ounces. They are "Mass Storage Class" peripherals, requiring no driver installation when used with operating systems like Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, Windows XP and Windows Me.

All FireLite drives, including the new XPress, feature BounceBack Express backup software.

Available in June, FireLite XPress drives have MSRPs of $199.99 (60GB) and $299.99 (120GB).

Source: SmartDisk

ARM Launches Next-Generation Processor

ARM announced at the Spring Processor Forum, in San Jose, California, the new Cortex-R4 processor for the next generation of mobile phones, hard-disk drives, printers and automotive designs. The Cortex-R4 processor enables configurability during synthesis to optimize the processor for different embedded applications through the memory protection unit, caches and tightly coupled memory (TCM).

The configurability of the Cortex-R4 processor provides specific benefits for key markets including:

• For 3G smartphone designs, the boost in performance from the Thumb-2 instruction set allows the Cortex-R4 processor to be used in place of the two separate processors that would traditionally be used in 3G baseband modems.
• For the hard disk drive market, alongside reduced cost benefits, tightly coupled memory (TCM) capabilities offer smaller and more efficient integration with rapid response times.
• For the printer market, the Cortex-R4 processor provides increased performance at reduced costs within the same power budget.
• For automotive applications, the Cortex-R4 processor includes fault tolerance for critical safety applications as well as memory protection that supports the latest version of the OSEK real time operating system. This is important for building system-on-chip (SoC) devices for engine management systems that have to run in real-time with a wide range of peripherals.

Made using the 90nm process, the novelty features an advanced microarchitecture and bases upon the ARM Artisan Advantage library. It occupies less than 1mm2 and consumes less than 0.27mW/MHz.

ARM has already secured three lead licensees for the Cortex-R4 including Broadcom, and the processor has received support from major EDA, RTOS and tools vendors.

The ARM Cortex-R4 processor is available for licensing now, along with the majority of the supporting technology. The Instruction Set Simulator (ISS) and RealView Development Suite tools environment for the Cortex-R4 processor is available today to lead and existing licensees, and for general release on request.

Source: ARM

AMD Launches Turion 64 X2

AMD today introduced AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile technology, the family of 64-bit dual-core processors designed for thin and light notebook PCs. AMD also is bringing 64-bit computing to the Mobile AMD Sempron processor family.

AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile technology is based on the same Direct Connect Architecture featured in the AMD Opteron and AMD Athlon 64 X2 processors, providing high-speed links between cores, memory and I/O for increased system performance.

The feature set of AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile technology also includes Multi-core Power Management, enabling reduced power consumption for extended battery life; AMD Digital Media Xpress for accelerated image processing, audio and video encoding and decoding, 3D graphic rendering; and AMD Virtualization, providing improved performance, reliability, and security for virtualized environments.

Users worldwide can expect to see notebooks based on AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile technology in retail stores and through commercial distribution channels this quarter. Systems are initially expected from Acer, ASUS, BenQ, Flocity, FSC, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, MSI, NEC, Packard Bell, Sotec and TongFang.

AMD Turion 64 X2 models TL-50, TL-52, TL-56 and TL-60 are available immediately worldwide. The AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile technology family ranges from $184-$354 in 1K-unit quantities.

Source: AMD

MSI Sells AMD X2 Notebooks

MSI today announced its first dual core solution, the MSI S271 notebook. This notebook is accessorized with AMD's Turion 64 X2 Dual Core Platform processor. The MSI S271 comes with a durable and elegant Al-Mg alloy case, high-definition Super Glare Type 12" 1280x800 LCD, embedded ATI UMA graphic interface, and Digital Surround Sound, as well as MSI's Dual CoreCell, 802.11b/g and BlueTooth 2.0 wireless communication. All these features are stored in a compact body, only 2 cm in thickness and less than 2 kgs in weight.

The MSI S271 notebook uses a full-size keyboard and a proprietary Butterfly touchpad. It comes with 512M B or 1GB of DDR2 memory and 60-120GB 5400rpm HDD.

MSI S271 is officially in the market now.

Source: MSI

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