Xilinx, Inc. has released version 9.1i of the Xilinx Embedded Development Kit (EDK) with the Xilinx Platform Studio embedded tool suite, providing full-access processing support for the company's newest 65-nanometer (nm) Virtex-5 SXT, LX and LXT FPGAs, as well as early access for the new Spartan-3A and Spartan-3AN devices. EDK 9.1i also includes a newly enhanced version of the MicroBlaze soft processing core and advancements in the tool suite that enable software and hardware engineers to more easily configure an integrated embedded design on all Xilinx platform FPGAs.
"With each release of new platform FPGAs such as the Virtex-5 and Spartan-3A families, the embedded processing community continues to adopt our processing platforms for a wide-range of applications and markets," explains Tim Erjavec, director of embedded and DSP worldwide marketing at Xilinx. "With our latest EDK version 9.1i, we have made it easier to build software platforms and improved integration with the hardware configuration tools to further accelerate embedded system design."
Xilinx Platform Studio (XPS) is the integrated development environment (IDE) most often used by system architects and hardware and/or FPGA engineers to design an embedded system with Xilinx devices. The XPS Software Development Kit (SDK) is the Eclipse-based IDE used by software savvy engineers to develop and debug application code targeted for Xilinx processors. With the 9.1i release, the XPS SDK compile/debug capabilities have been enhanced, and the process of defining and generating software processing platforms has been significantly streamlined through control of compiler settings; automated generation of libraries, software drivers and linker scripts; and FLASH writing and design module synchronization.
EDK 9.1i also features a host of intellectual property (IP) and ease-of-use enhancements. These include color-coded indicators in the IP catalog, IP instantiation and configuration improvements, and upgraded simulation and debug interfaces. Users can now access automatic software updates directly from the Xilinx download center, along with the new EDK Concepts, Tools and Techniques hands-on guide to effective embedded system design.
Xilinx
