Avnet Electronics Marketing Launches New Xilinx On-Ramps

Business Wire, Feb 11, 2008

PHOENIX -- Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), has launched five new On-Ramp Technical Sessions[TM] featuring solutions from Xilinx[R] programmable logic. On-Ramp Technical Sessions feature live presentations and demonstrations free of charge for qualified Avnet customers.

Avnet subject matter experts are visiting customers across the globe to present the latest On-Ramp topics:

* Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) - PCIe is a computer expansion card interface platform designed to accelerate and enable full information transfer from the motherboard to the card without the use of additional hardware. Benefits of PCIe include accelerated file transfer and lower design and implementation costs.

* Fibre Channel - Fibre Channel is a gigabit-speed network technology that has become the standard connection type for storage area networks (SAN) in enterprise storage. Demonstration includes using a Xilinx Core Generator to configure a Virtex-4 FX multi-gigabit transceiver (MGT) for Fibre Channel applications. Virtex-4 FX MGTs offer designers the ideal debug solution for server, storage sub-system, communication line card and backplane applications.

* Spartan[TM]-3A Configuration - As the leading connectivity platform and industry's first anti-cloning security technology, Spartan-3A enhances flexible power management and enables cost effective design. Various application configuration options are demonstrated - including byte parallel interface (BPI), serial peripheral interface (SPI), and advantages and applications for multi-boot.

* Virtex[TM]-5 GTP Reference Design - This On-Ramp shows how the Aurora protocol can be implemented on the Virtex-5 GTP transceivers - a fourth generation multi-gigabit transceiver technology. An overview of the Aurora LogiCORE[TM] is also presented, covering user interface, flow control, clocking and initialization.

* Embedded Development Kit (EDK) 9.2 Demo for Spartan-E3 Starter Kit - EDK 9.2 provides a low-cost, easy to use development and evaluation platform for Spartan-3 field-programmable gate array (FPGA) designs. Demonstration includes the creation of a new MicroBlaze hardware platform from Xilinx Platform Studio (XPS) Base System Builder and highlights test applications run on the Spartan-3E Starter Board.

"Our customers continuously ask for information on new topics - often as a precursor to deep-dive trainings like our SpeedWay workshop series," said Tim Barber, senior vice president of global Xilinx marketing for Avnet Electronics Marketing. "On-Ramps are a great way for customers to preview the hottest design technology available from Avnet and Xilinx for incorporation into their applications."

For more information, or to request an On-Ramp Technical Session, please visit: www.em.avnet.com/xilinxonramp

About Avnet Electronics Marketing

Avnet Electronics Marketing is an operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), a Fortune 500 company. Avnet Electronics Marketing serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in more than 70 countries, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services. The group's Web site is located at http://www.em.avnet.com.

About Avnet

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and technology services and solutions with more than 300 locations serving more than 70 countries worldwide. The company markets, distributes and optimizes the supply-chain and provides design-chain services for the products of the world's leading electronic component suppliers, enterprise computer manufacturers and embedded subsystem providers. Avnet brings a breadth and depth of capabilities, such as maximizing inventory efficiency, managing logistics, assembling products and providing engineering design assistance for its 100,000 customers, accelerating their growth through cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007, Avnet generated revenue of $15.68 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.