Joint interoperability testing of Xilinx LogiCORE IP for OBSAI RP3-01 completed with EB Base Station Interface Tester to enable faster, lower cost development of wireless base stations

SAN JOSE, Calif. and OULU, Finland, -- November 03, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) and EB (Elektrobit) (Nasdaq OMX: EBC) today announced that the high-performance Xilinx LogiCORE(TM) IP solution has successfully completed interoperability testing for the OBSAI Reference Point 3-01 (RP3-01) specification. Tests were conducted jointly by Xilinx and EB using the Xilinx(R) Virtex(R)-5 LXT FPGA platform optimized for embedded, low power serial connectivity applications and the EB Base Station Interface Tester, an advanced OBSAI interface analyzer.

The joint interoperability testing by EB and Xilinx is a major step forward for the adoption of wireless interconnectivity standards inside modern base station architectures, and brings the benefits of shorter development times and reduced system costs to wireless base station developers. The Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI) aims at creating a suite of open specifications for base station architectures. The RP3-01 specification describes data and control requirements between the base station baseband and remote radio heads.

"OBSAI warmly welcomes the collaboration of Xilinx and EB. Interoperability tests such as these help to drive the adoption of the OBSAI standard in the broader market," said Tero Mustala, head of the OBSAI Management Board. "The challenges with interoperability are clear, and they require ongoing efforts by the whole community. As a next step, the OBSAI initiative has started the activity to define air interface profiles to enable even better interoperability between applications developed by different companies."

"Verification of OBSAI implementations is vital for the successful progress of the open market ideology. The EB Base Station Interface Tester was developed exactly for this purpose, enabling independent verification of base station modules or IP designs. The performed interoperability tests with Xilinx demonstrate the value of the EB solution for the whole market," said Johanna Hugg, product manager of EB.

"As the wireless industry shifts rapidly to standards-based serial connectivity, the burden is on IP and semiconductor providers to provide solutions that meet the requirements and expectations of their customers," said Harpinder Matharu, senior product manager of Wireless Connectivity at Xilinx. "At Xilinx, we are committed to delivering industry-leading serial connectivity solutions, and the interoperability verification of our LogiCORE for OBSAI RP3-01 ensures that developers can design base station systems faster and with complete confidence."

The OBSAI Interoperability Testing Report describes the comprehensive suite of tests and measurements performed with the EB Base Station Interface Tester. It is immediately available by email request to Email Contact or at http://www.elektrobit.com/OBSAI-tester

About Xilinx LogiCORE Solution

The Xilinx LogiCORE IP for OBSAI RP3/RP3-01 provides a low cost and high performance connectivity solution for Xilinx Virtex-5 devices with embedded low power RocketIO(TM) GTP transceivers. This flexible IP core supports 768 Mbps, 1.536 Gbps, and 3.072 Gbps line rates and is compliant to OBSAI RP3 V4.0 standards specification. It comes with all the necessary design files, datasheets, test suites, and reference design to accelerate system development. For more information about Xilinx wireless solutions, visit: http://www.xilinx.com/esp/wireless

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the worldwide leader in complete programmable logic solutions. For more information, visit http://www.xilinx.com

About EB Base Station Interface Tester (EB OBSAI Tester)

The EB Base Station Interface Tester is a professional solution providing comprehensive support for verifying the functionality and performance of OBSAI RP3, RP3-01 and RP1 (timing) interfaces of individual base station modules. The tester can be utilized also for monitoring and analyzing data transmission between the modules of a running base station. It provides full visibility to RP3, RP3-01 and RP1 Ethernet transmission and considerably speeds up the base station integration phase. For more information, visit http://www.elektrobit.com/OBSAI-tester

About EB, Elektrobit Corporation

EB develops advanced technology and transforms it into enriching end user experiences. EB specializes in demanding embedded software and hardware solutions for the automotive industry and wireless technologies. The company's net sales for the year 2007 totalled EUR 144.3 million. Elektrobit Corporation is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. http://www.elektrobit.com

About OBSAI

The Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI) is a forum of over 140 telecommunications companies -- spanning, module, component and base station vendor activity. Together they have created both open internal interface specifications for base station architecture and module specifications covering the areas of Transport, Control, Baseband and Radio. For a list of OBSAI members and further information go to: http://www.obsai.com



Contacts:

Silvia Gianelli
Xilinx, Inc. Public Relations
Tel.: 408-626-4328
E-mail: Email Contact

Sanna Makelainen
EB, Marketing communication
Tel.: +358 40 344 3641
E-mail: Email Contact