SAN JOSE, Calif., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) today announced the expansion of its Authorized Training Provider (ATP) program with two new North American providers: Faster Technology, LLC based in Katy, TX and North Pole Engineering based in Minneapolis, MN. These two companies join the Xilinx global network of ATPs and online learning solutions, providing training at the convenience of customers in key regions around the world including: Africa and the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Central and South America, Europe, Japan and North America.

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"Faster Technology and North Pole Engineering each offer extensive expertise in the design of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and are important additions to our extensive ATP network," said Jason Fegley, Xilinx North American ATP manager. "Hands-on customer training is a key enabler to getting designs done faster and at a lower cost. We selected these two providers because of their excellent track record in delivering high-quality design services and deep relationships with Xilinx customers and sales teams in their regions."

The ATP program complements the company's Education Services curriculum, offering Xilinx customers a robust network of local providers certified to deliver high-quality training in programmable logic and system-level design. The program provides Xilinx customers valuable assistance and instruction in maximizing the potential of the company's latest programmable silicon solutions, including both the Virtex(R)-5 and Spartan(R)-3A FPGA families.

"The Xilinx technology and customer base is synergistic with the skills and experience of North Pole Engineering's customer support team," said Joseph Meyer, president of North Pole Engineering. "Our engineers are experts in FPGA, DSP and high-speed circuit design and offer Xilinx customers the training, support and experience needed to ensure their programmable logic design is a complete success."

"The ATP program is an ideal way for all designers in the territory to gain access to our extensive experience in design techniques for the most productive use of Xilinx solutions. Close relationships between Xilinx, the ATP and customers assure that designers are as productive as possible as quickly as possible to assure everyone's mutual success," said John McCaskill, president of Faster Technology. "This is particularly important as Xilinx moves to the next level with targeted design platforms."

About the Xilinx Authorized Training Provider Network

The Xilinx ATP Program delivers training to engineers interested in learning how to develop low-cost, efficient programmable logic and system-level designs. Customers can enroll in Xilinx Education Services directly with their local ATP, or they can register for classes using training credits, if their company has purchased a Xilinx Productivity Advantage (XPA) package.

For the latest course details and schedules or to register, users in North Central United States should contact North Pole Engineering ( www.npe-inc.com), while those in South Central United States should contact Faster Technology ( fastertechnology.com) or visit the Xilinx online training catalog ( http://www.xilinx.com/support/education-home.htm).

About Faster Technology, LLC

Faster Technology (Katy, TX) develops high-performance Xilinx FPGA solutions that maximize processing throughput while minimizing latency. In addition to being a certified ATP, the company is also a Xilinx Alliance Program Partner, an Impulse Accelerated Technologies Platform Partner and a member of both the Xilinx SignOnce IP License and SignOnce Services Agreement Programs.

About North Pole Engineering

Founded in 1997 in Minneapolis, MN, North Pole Engineering is the Midwest's top FPGA design firm, completing more than fifteen designs a year. North Pole Engineering is a vertically integrated engineering company bringing customers over 25 years of expertise implementing large-scale ASIC and FPGA designs.

About Xilinx

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

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    Editorial Contacts:
    Lisa Washington
    Xilinx, Inc.
    (408) 626-6272
    lisa.washington@xilinx.com

Web site: http://www.xilinx.com/