赛灵思在28nm如何领先一代？

I have to admit that one thing I think the folks at Xilinx do really well is their Xcell Journal magazine. I can't think of any other company -- not just FPGA manufacturers, I mean any other semiconductor company -- that publishes anything of this quality.

The print issue is almost like a "coffee table" presentation, but instead of waffling on about stuff like cooking recipes or decorating advice, it's jam packed with interesting articles about programmable devices, tools, tips, tricks, and design and verification techniques. The online version is just as impressive; someone does one heck of a job on the imagery and layout.

I'm proud to say that I've had a couple of articles placed in the Journal myself, and All Programmable Planet blogger Adam Taylor is a regular contributor. (I think Adam's current mission is to have articles in the greatest number of concecutive issues of Xcell Journal of any non-Xilinx author.)

But we digress... The point is that the Autumn 2012 edition of Xcell Journal is currently available for our delectation and delight. Issue 81's cover story looks at how the folks at Xilinx have moved themselves a generation ahead of the competition on the 28nm process node with their All Programmable SoCs, 3D ICs, FPGAs, and their new Vivado Design Suite.

Says Xcell Journal publisher, Mike Santarini:

This issue of Xcell Journal chronicles the hard work that Xilinx began in 2008 to not only offer the industry's most innovative FPGAs on the 28nm process, but to go many steps further to expand the market and definition of programmability by bringing the Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC and Virtex-7 FPGAs to market. Now that customers have 28nm devices in their hands and these FPGAs are going into new products, Xcell Journal is detailing the innovative ways engineers are using these devices to reduce BOM costs and get innovative products to market faster.

In addition to this quarter's cover story, Xcell Journal issue 81 is packed with informative how-to stories for every technical skill level, including "How to Implement State Machines in Your FPGA" in which author Adam Taylor discusses the different types of state machines and how to best implement them in your designs. (You see -- I told you Adam was on a mission!)

This issue also includes two comprehensive articles describing how to use Xilinx's new Vivado High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tool. In the first Vivado HLS article, Xilinx field application engineers Daniele Bagni and Giulio Corradi explain how they used Vivado HLS in the design of a floating-point PID (proportional integral derivative) controller that was implemented on the Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC. In the second Vivado HLS article, Xilinx engineer James Hrica shows readers how to use Vivado HLS to implement a floating point design in FPGAs.

And there's much, much more... Xcell Journal is available as a one-click PDF download or in iPad/iPod-compatible ISSUU electronic magazine format. So what are you waiting for? Don't dilly-dally or shilly-shally -- take a peek and then tell me what you think!