As part of the agreement, Philips Semiconductors retains the right to incorporate the Fast Zero Power™ technology used in the CoolRunner CPLDs in embedded applications such as custom ASICs. The CoolRunner products will continue to be made at Philips Semiconductors' wafer fabs in Europe and at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation in Taiwan. Philips Semiconductors and Xilinx also plan to work on joint developments for System-on-a-chip (SOC) applications.

"This transaction allows Philips Semiconductors to increase focus in the company's core areas such as the consumer, telecommunications and automotive markets, as well as in the discrete, logic and microcontroller product lines", said Rick Goeld, senior vice president of the MultiMarket Products Business Unit at Philips Semiconductors. "Additionally, this agreement will be beneficial to customers of the CoolRunner CPLD product family. Customers can continue to take advantage of the low-power, high-density CoolRunner devices, and at the same time, leverage Xilinx's strong support infrastructure."

Xilinx is the leading innovator of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and commands more than half of the world market for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, high-reliability/military, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at  www.xilinx.com.

The Philips CPLD Business Line, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was formed in 1996 with a focus on developing low-power, high-density, high-speed CPLDs. Since then, Philips Semiconductors has made inroads in designing a wide range of 3- and 5- volt devices at unprecedented low power rates and high speeds. In 1997, the XPLA™ Professional suite of design tools became a companion to the robust devices. The combination became unrivalled in high-density, low-power, high-speed offerings within a single device.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs. Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing its home page at  http://cdrom.semiconductors.com/.

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