Virtex-6 and Spartan-6, plus a look into the future

Abstract

Recently, Xilinx introduced two new FPGA families, Virtex-6 and Spartan-6, closely related in architecture, but each optimized for different markets and applications: Virtex-6 for high performance, features and capacity; Spartan-6 for low cost and low power consumption. Both families take advantage of 40/45 nm technology, and both are derived from the successful Virtex-5 architecture. I will give an overview of the salient features and capabilities of both families. Then I will give a peek into the future, explaining the impact of rapidly rising development costs for all future technology nodes. That limits ASICs and ASSPs to serve only high-volume opportunities, and offers unique advantages for FPGAs. But we must overcome certain technical difficulties, and streamline the user's design process.