Avnet and Xilinx Begin Registration for X-fest

The Avnet Electronics Marketing operating group and Xilinx announced registration is open for X-fest 2009, a 36-city technical seminar series offering practical, how-to training for FPGA, DSP and embedded systems designers.

X-fest seminars will take place in locations around the globe beginning in October 2009, and ending in February 2010.

The companies explained that X-fest is a series of free one-day seminars featuring multi-track training sessions ranging from building block to system level solutions that utilize the latest FPG technologies. Attendees will discover the advantages of using the new Xilinx Virtex-6 and Spartan-6 FPGA families in their designs, and learn how to leverage the many supporting technologies from Avnet's other X-fest partners. Engineers will have access to industry experts and partner exhibits from Cypress Semiconductor, Intel, Maxim Integrated Products, National Semiconductor, NXP, Texas Instruments (TI), and Tyco Electronics. Design engineers will leave X-fest armed with the tools and practical knowledge they need to tackle existing and future design challenges, and extend their product's life cycle.

Featured course offerings include:

- Interfacing DDR3 and LPDRAM with the Xilinx Spartan-6 Hard Memory Controller - the Spartan-6 built-in memory controller, its features, and how to connect user logic to the hard core; achieving maximum performance with DDR3; and implementing Low Power DDR memory for power saving applications.

- Interfacing to an Analog World - processing multiple sensory input signals, and the critical effects of filtering/amplification on low level signals; design considerations around analog resolution, sampling speeds and converter topologies; and exploring interface and processing methods for input at the FPGA.

- Designing Products for the Human Experience - designing elegant, reliable touch-sensing interfaces; differentiating product with low-cost, custom segment LCDs; advantages of low-cost USB interfaces to connect a system to a host PC; and saving power/cost using the Avnet Spartan-6 LX16 FPGA.

"Over the past 12 years, X-fest has gained the reputation among designers for delivering high-quality, deep-dive training on the latest technology from Xilinx and our other X-fest sponsors," said Tim Barber, senior vice president of design chain business development for Avnet Electronics Marketing. "This year's event continues that tradition with courses, demonstrations, and exhibits based on the most advanced technology available from industry-leading companies. Avnet will be featuring several new development platforms during X-fest that will simplify designers' efforts and improve product design cycles."

"X-Fest is an ideal place for designers to quickly get up to speed on how to overcome the challenges of today's design realities by using Xilinx FPGAs and the complementary technologies delivered by our ecosystem of third-party vendors," said Chris Henry, vice president, sales operations & channel sales at Xilinx. "With a new generation of Virtex and Spartan series FPGAs and the third party support that goes with them, this year's X-Fest can't be missed."

For complete information about X-Fest 2009 including full course descriptions, locations and registration information, please visit the Web Site.

Xilinx is a provider of programmable logic solutions.

Avnet Electronics Marketing is an operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet that serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers, distributing electronic components from manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services.

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