Distribution in Europe – Answers provided by Gianluca Gilardi, distribution sales manager Europe, Xilinx

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EONEWS: What is your opinion regarding this year electronic market trends (electronics means not only semiconductor but also passives and electromechanical) globally and in particular in the European region?

GILARDI: Smarter systems, smarter networks, the trends are “Smart”. In the context of smarter systems, “Smart” refers to performing tasks in an automated manner so that people no longer need to perform those tasks, either because the tasks are frequent, repetitive or boring or because the tasks are extremely complex and need the constant attention best provided by a machine.

However, “Smart” also reaches beyond mere task automation. “Smart” processes can also become more efficient. For example, consider a “Smart” factory. “Smart” machines in a factory need far less human supervision. When those “Smart” machines combine to create a “Smart” factory, new efficiencies result. All “Smart” systems need programmability.

Xilinx calls this need for programmability the “programmable imperative”. No networking or communications system, no Smarter Network from this point forward can be designed without multiple forms of embedded programmability b.ecause doing so guarantees quick obsolescence and shortened end-product life  Further, Xilinx believes that the programmable imperative is as much a mandate for Xilinx as it is for the company’s networking and communications customers, which is one of the key reasons behind the development of the company’s portfolio of 7 Series FPGAs and Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoCs.

EONEWS: Do you think that Europe could play in the short-medium period a key role in the global electronic market?  If yes: in which sector?

GILARDI: In Europe we have excellence in many market segments such as wireless, automotive, industrial, medical and defence. Xilinx provides our customers with a complete solution or platform to design their leading edge products lines, like driver assistance systems for cars or motor control or industrial networking.

These are just some examples of many innovative applications where customers can use our solutions and technologies to turn their concept into reality.

Our most successful customers in Europe are those who are able to innovate to stay ahead of their competitors. Likewise, we, at Xilinx, are committed to Staying a Generation Ahead of our competitors, so we can continue to provide the platforms our customers need to implement those innovations.

EONEWS: What are the most important events that have influenced the electronic distribution in Europe this year?

GILARDI: The global economy remains the biggest factor influencing the market for electronic distributors in Europe, particularly for the Southern European Countries.

EONEWS: What are the strategies you implement to support your future expansion in Europe?

GILARDI: Xilinx continues to roll out its Next-Generation All Programmable FPGAs, the 20nm UltraScale All Programmable FPGAs which has been announced in October last year and will continue to stay a Generation Ahead with:

UltraScale All Programmable 3D ICs

Xilinx’s second generation 3D ICs will have homogeneous and heterogeneous configurations.  High-growth applications include Nx100G/400G smart networks, top-of-rack data center switches, and highest integration ASIC prototyping.  Notable advancements include:

UltraScale All Programmable SoCs

Xilinx’s 20nm All Programmable SoCs (Zynq All Programmable SoC) integrate heterogeneous processing cores with FPGA fabric for accelerating key processing functions. High-growth applications include heterogeneous wireless network radios, baseband acceleration and backhaul, data center security appliances, and embedded vision applications in automotive, industrial, scientific, medical, and Aerospace and Defense markets. Zynq device is a unique combination of performance, integration and flexibility. Zynq SoC is the perfect merge between the Processor world, through the ARMDual core Cortex-A9 and his peripheral set, and the FPGA world, which enables differentiation and innovation. We believe through Zynq platform we can expand our customer base and attract new customers that never thought about using an FPGA. To support our strategy we have built a solid roadmap and a support ecosystem made of IP, SW, applications and reference designs, partners, forums.

Co-Optimized with the Vivado Design Suite

Introduced with Xilinx’s ground-breaking 28nm 7 series FPGA portfolio, the Vivado Design Suite is co-optimized even further for 20nm product families so that designers can achieve:

• 20 percent greater LUT utilization, up to a 3 speed grade performance improvement, and up to 35 percent greater power reduction
• 4x improvement in design productivity due to faster hierarchical planning, analytic place and route engines and support for fast incremental ECOs (engineering change orders)
• Verification run-time improves by over 100x when using a C-based design flow, plus 4-5x faster integration time leveraging IP core reuse using the Vivado Design Suite IP integrator and packager.

In 2013 and beyond, Xilinx is committed to extending the value of its portfolio in partnership with a growing ecosystem of foundry, EDA, supply chain, semiconductor, IP and systems companies to drive radical improvements in system-level IC integration for tomorrow’s electronic system designs.

To support our strategy we have built a strong support ecosystem comprising IP, SW, applications and reference designs, partners, forums. This strategy is also particularly relevant in Europe, where the embedded space is significant and distributed across a myriad of small/medium companies covered by the distribution channel. We believe that our support offering is also a key differentiator, in a world where the ASSP companies cannot longer support the needs of these small/medium enterprises.

EONEWS: From a general point of view, in your opinion, are there still key barriers today to overcome, to improve the ecosystem (logistics, supply chain of vendors, distributors, dealers, etc.) of electronic distribution in Europe? If yes, what are them, and what are the solutions?

GILARDI: Xilinx products are traditionally high end technology. That brings in a lot of advantages in term of performance, cost, power and integrations, but also increases the complexity of the design. This can be a barrier for some of our smaller customers and we need to help them overcome it. Beside the traditional support structure, we have established a network of certified local members that can provide additional expertise. To address the Embedded market needs, We are also creating a network of certified System On Module (SoM) makers based on Zynq device, to enable small companies that don’t have resources or design capabilities to have access “off-the-shelf” to the most advanced technology.

EONEWS: Do you envision a particular shift in the evolution of this business model for the next future?
GILARDI: For customers who have all the internal resources to do hardware/software co-development, our all programmable SoCs provide the ultimate in both hardware and software programmability

For smaller companies who may lack some of the required skills or resources, our SoM alliance program members can provide hardware platforms on which the customer can build a software-differentiated product

For our distributors to be successful they need to help to our customers to differentiate their products by helping them to realize the benefits of our all programmable solutions. Our extensive network of dedicated FAEs at Avnet/Silica is trained to the same level as our own FAEs to ensure to all our customers, large or small, have access to the same level of expertise.

Read the article on EONews 567-September

Edited by the editorial staff

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