Accelerating Quality

Xilinx 2010 Quality Report

COMPLETESOLUTIONSZERODEFECTSCONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENTQUALITY
ECOSYSTEMHIGHER
STANDARDSI N C R EAS I N G C USTO M E R SATI S FACTI O N

Q UALITY AWAR D S
CISCO
SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR AWARD10QUALITY SCOR E

9.49

HUAWEIQUALITY EXCELLENCE AWARD
EXCELLENT CORE PARTNER AWARD
SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR AWARD

8ANRITSUTOP SUPPLIER AWARD
BROCADEQUALITY EXCELLENCE AWARD

7

GENERAL DYNAMICS
STRATEGIC SUPPLIER AWARD

6
Q4
06

Q1
07

Q2
07

Q3
07

Q4
07

Q1
08

Q2
08

Q3
08

Q4
08

Q1
09

Q2
09

Q3
09

Q4
09

Q1
10

Q2
10

TELLABSSUPPLIER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Q3
10

for more information, visit:www.xilinx.com/company/about

QUARTE R /CALE N DAR YEAR

Accelerating Quality
At Xilinx, the challenges faced by the design engineer shape our agenda for driving improvements
into our business. Our measure of success is our customer’s success. The numbers and awards
above attest to the effectiveness of this strategy.
Regardless of the target market, design engineers face common challenges: to create solutions
that stand out from the competition, control development costs, adapt to changing standards, andreduce time to market. Xilinx quality addresses all of these challenges — to accelerate design
projects and let engineers get better results, faster.
ABOUT OU R COVE R:
THE COVER DESIGN REPRESENTS THE FAST-MOVING, HIGHLY COMPETITIVEWO R LD O F TE C H N O LO GY-BAS E D I N N OVATI O N S. TH E I C O N S SYM B O LI Z E
FO U N DATI O NAL VALU E S O F TH E X I LI N X AP P R OAC H TO Q UALITY, WH I C H
PUTS DESIG N E R S ON AN ACCE LE RATE D PATH FOR PRODUCI NG SYSTE MS
CHARACTE R IZ E D BY I N DUSTRY-LEADI NG QUALITY.

When a designer chooses a Xilinx platform, the project is instantly in motion. Xilinx quality programs
transfer momentum to our customers, making their jobs easier. As you will see within the pages ofthis report, Xilinx quality benefits a multitude of markets by accelerating:
Development: In the field of communications, designers are called upon to deliver greater performanceand more reliable infrastructure. Xilinx high-quality FPGAs are at the heart of next-generation systems.
Differentiation: Standing apart from competitors in the ever-changing consumer products market
requires rapid access to the latest technology. Working with Xilinx, engineers can leverage productintroduction processes with proven quality results.
Transformations: Large-scale industrial applications require robust designs. Xilinx FPGA solutions
with proven quality records in other markets can increase ROI and extend the life cycle of a designthat transforms manufacturing.

COMPLETESOLUTIONSInnovations: Customer expectations have never been higher in the automotive market. Xilinx delivers
industry-leading FPGAs through a relentless dedication to quality, to unleash designer creativity andexceed those expectations.
Breakthroughs: Successful aerospace exploration and breaking traditional limits demand strong
partnerships and visionary new approaches, often testing the limits of technology. Xilinx provides
the trusted quality foundation, allowing our customers to reach these new frontiers.

COMPLETESOLUTIONSZERODEFECTSCONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENTQUALITY
ECOSYSTEMHIGHER
STANDARDS

2010 represents the end of perhaps the most challenging decade for the technology industry.
Elevating quality is more important than ever, and has been proven to be a catalyst for market gains.
Take advantage of the information provided to begin accelerating quality in your design workflow
and the advanced electronic systems you produce. We look forward to hearing from you. And we lookforward to discovering new ways to accelerate quality and ultimately improve your project results.

Moshe Gavrielov

Vincent Tong

President & CEO
Xilinx, Inc.

Senior Vice President, Quality & New Product Introductions
Xilinx, Inc.
Board of Directors, Global Semiconductor AllianceXilinx Quality r eport | 2010

COMMUNICATIONSACCELERATING DEVELOPMENT

Future-Proofing Networks with 
Xilinx FPGAs• Customer satisfaction 9.4 out of 10

Smartphones and the explosion of digital content are taxing infrastructures worldwide.
Engineers must keep up with rapidly evolving interface standards, build in more
infrastructure bandwidth, and meet carrier class quality standards for operation.
Communications system designers have embraced the inherent flexibility of FPGAs
for developing critical data paths, putting Xilinx quality and reliability at the heart ofnext-generation optical transport networks (OTNs) and “IP everywhere” networks.

COMPLETESOLUTIONSZERODEFECTSCONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENTQUALITY
ECOSYSTEM• 5 products in volume at zero ppm• >99.9% test coverage• Published 28nm SEU results• TL9000 certification since 2003

HIGHER
STANDARDS

2
3

Enriching Development
The unique Xilinx Targeted Design
Platform model has yielded domainspecific tools and a more integrated
development experience for designersof complex communications systems.
Developers are able to thoroughly vet
designs and achieve higher-quality
results while accelerating innovations
by building on a foundation ofproven products.

Speeding Access to
Industry Advances

Zero Defects: Exceeding
Quality Expectations

In support of its extensive communications
portfolio, Xilinx continues to strengthen
strategic partnerships with providersof IP that meets the highest-possible
standards of quality. The Xilinx relationships
and collaborative approach to quality
management give equipment andinfrastructure designers rapid accessto new technologies while ensuring
long product life and support from anestablished ecosystem.

Aiming for zero defects, Xilinx has
continuously improved new productevaluation (NPE) and new productintroduction (NPI) processes. In 2010,
tighter verifications and fabrication
process development milestone
criteria have enabled lower power,
higher performance, and faster time
to market, while enhanced verificationand characterization have led to earlier
discovery of critical issues.

1

ACCESS

5

CHANNEL CARDS2INFRASTRUCTURE

6BACKHAUL

3

RADIO CARDS

7ENABLED TECHNOLOGIES4DATACENTERS & ENTERPRISE

1

4

2

5

3

6

RECONFIGURABILITY
FUTURE-PROOFINGLEAR N I N G B E FO R E F I R ST S I LI C O N FO R H I G H-Q UALITY, FASTE R TI M E TO MAR K ET

TV 0
Technology
Path Finder

TV1

TV2

TV3/PPLV

Basic
Elements:
RAM, RF,
StdCell, etc.

Circuit Blocks,
Elements:
RAM, RF,
StdCell, etc.

Integration
and Basic
Devices
Kintex-7™

1st Silicon
March 18th

28nm
Definition

SERDESTo accelerate process development,
Xilinx introduces test chips from thestart, as process and performancelearning vehicles (PPLVs). Early
engagements with world-class partners
and years of development drive quality
into the technology for Xilinx industryleading FPGAs.

DSP

SSI

7
LOWPOWER“ We value our longtime relationship with Xilinx
as a preferred supplier and are delighted toacknowledge the company's best-in-class
support of the Cisco engineering community
all over the world. Service and support havebeen key differentiators for Xilinx. Xilinx's
high-performance, flexible programmableplatforms and in-depth knowledge of ourtechnology and market requirements havemade it a key contributor to our design
teams' success in delivering networking
products that transform how people connect,

2008
S TA G E 1

2009
S TA G E 2

2010
S TA G E 3

S TA G E 42011communicate, and collaborate.”
PRENTIS WILSON
Vice President for Global Supplier Management
CISCO SYSTEMS INC.

Xilinx Quality r eport | 2010

CONSUMER

ACCELERATING DIFFERENTIATION

Staying in Sync with
Consumer Demands• ISO9001 certification since 1995

Constant advancements characterize the consumer electronics industry. Being first to
market with reliable, new features in a high quality product translates into larger market
share, and therefore determines success or failure. Xilinx helps designers stand out inthis fast-moving market, and Xilinx devices dominate many leading-edge products suchas 3D TVs. By extending the company’s proven quality processes to IP, Xilinx helps
designers speed the refinement of high quality algorithms and product features.

COMPLETESOLUTIONSZERODEFECTSCONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENTQUALITY
ECOSYSTEMHIGHER
STANDARDS• Zero ppm defect reduction program• Defect density driven quality• Quarterly reliability reporting• Lead-free and halogen-free
product offerings

1

3D HDTV

3

E-READER TABLET

5

SMARTPHONE

2

HD VIDEO

4

MULTIFUNCTION PRINTER

6HDTV RECEIVER
45XILINX DEVICES ARE IN 90% OF ALL 3D TVS SOLD IN 2010

Aiming for Higher Standards
From the outset, Xilinx devices aredesigned for test, reliability, manufacturing,and the mitigation of single event upset.
Proven quality results show that Xilinx
excels at meeting stringent requirements
for markets where customers demanda steady stream of new features. This isachieved by always striving to improve
our products and the quality of ourcustomers’ experiences.

Continually Improving
Product Characterization

Expanding Platforms with
Market-Specific IP

Product verification and characterization
are increasingly critical in speeding
integrated testing to the productdatasheet. Xilinx collects more than
200-million characterization data points
for each product generation. This
process provides key inputs for testdevelopment — beginning with holistic
simulation and feeding improvements
to both software and silicon design.

To provide designers with world-classdevelopment platforms, Xilinx invests inan extensive portfolio of high-quality IP.
A framework of process monitors andautomated quality checklists ensuresrepeatability for IP development. With
each Xilinx ISE® Design Suite release,regression testing is performed to evaluate
the quality and integration of IP. Passrates and errors are mapped to root
causes to facilitate permanent solutions
that improve overall quality.

1

4

5

2

3
6

TAR G ETE D D ES I G N P LATFO R M S

MARKET-SPECIFIC
DOMAIN-SPECIFIC

C

U

ST

O

M

ER

IN

N

O

VA

TI

O

N

APPLICATIONBASE PLATFORM

By freeing designers to focus on
differentiation, Targeted Design Platforms
speed innovative products to market.
The integration of high-quality FPGA
devices, design tools, and IP into targetedreference designs creates a robust
development and run-time environment.

“ Aiptek selected Xilinx Spartan FPGAs to get®

to market first with the world’s only pocket

camcorder that captures 2D and 3D in highdefinition. Xilinx meets all of our performance,
cost, and power requirements, along with theflexibility to support new and evolving video
standards. The company’s Targeted Design
Platform for digital display design is a fast
path to low-cost innovation. ”
AIPTEK, INC.

Xilinx Quality r eport | 2010industrial

ACCELERATING TRANSFORMATIONS

Xilinx Support for Manufacturing
Industry Needs• No material excursions since 2006

As manufacturers evolve into globalized operations, increased pressures to control
costs and avoid downtime make quality paramount. Xilinx FPGA advancements• RMAs down 55% vs. 2008
• >440 million data points ofcharacterization collected

pioneered in other markets such as automotive, aerospace and defense help commercial
and industrial application designers transform traditional industrial designs. Building
upon Xilinx quality processes accelerates integration for maximized stability overdecades instead of years.

COMPLETESOLUTIONSZERODEFECTSCONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENTQUALITY
ECOSYSTEMHIGHER
STANDARDS• Manufacturing corner material program• Robust reliability monitoring and FIT rates

1

INDUSTRIAL NETWORKING3

MOTOR CONTROL & PROCESSING2

MACHINE VISION

4VIDEO SURVEILLANCE
6
7

Recruiting High-Quality
IP Partners

Extending Quality into the
Supply Chain

Promoting Quality Best Practices

To promote the introduction of domainspecific tools, Xilinx shares verification
methodologies with its third-party IP
partners. Vendor qualification, knowledgetransfer, and regular audits and certifications
maximize the quality of essential IP tominimize project risk and extend the life
span for high-performance interfaces,
controllers, and other critical elementson the factory floor.

Xilinx has pioneered fabless manufacturing.
We recruit world-class suppliers aroundthe globe for their expertise in building
reliable products and their ability to meet
tough product quality requirements suchas ISO9001, TL9000, TS16949, andS20.20. Building high-quality products
requires engineering integration andpartnerships to drive controls such as
maverick control, statistical bin limiting,and outlier detection.

3

Solid, reliable, high-quality products
require a strong commitment tocontinuous improvements. At Xilinx, wehave worked for a decade to pioneer
robust methods that lead to rigorous
excursion prevention processes. The
results demonstrate this commitment,with no major customer excursions
since 2006.

NUMBER OF INCIDENTS

10
8
6
4
2

Q1
06

Q2
06

Q3
06

Q4
06

Q1
07

Q2
07

4

2

E XC U R S I O N R E D U CTI O N

01

Xilinx actively engages with other industry
leaders in strategic associations that
help evolve quality requirements andindustry standards such as Quest and
TL9000. Promoting the adoption ofstandards and encouraging collaboration
raises quality throughout the industry
and gives designers more reliable,
predictable platforms and solutions
for design projects.

Q3
07

IMPACT:

Q4
07

Q1
08

Q2
08

Q3
08

LEVEL 1

Q4
08

Q1
09

Q2
09

Q3
09

LEVEL 2

Q4
09

Q1
10

Q2
10

Q3
10

Q4
10

“ As a global leader in video surveillance,
Hikvision is dedicated to continuous

innovation. Our equipment is used in morethan 100 countries to improve security invenues ranging from banks, subways, andsports stadiums to amusement parks andcasinos. The performance, flexibility, and low
power of Xilinx FPGA platforms have provenan excellent match for our R&D team’s
requirements, particularly in adapting toevolving HD industry standards. ”
HIKVISION

Xilinx Quality r eport | 2010

AUTOMOTIVEACCELERATING INNOVATION

Xilinx Support for Automotive
Industry Standards• TS16949 compliant since 2005

Technology-oriented digital lifestyles have permanently altered customer
expectations in the automotive industry. As a result of its relentless commitment
to quality, Xilinx has pioneered processes that elevate quality within every layerof the company’s FPGA-based Targeted Design Platforms. High quality platforms• 2X AEC-Q100 qualification of XA products• Full XA product BOM controls• RMA response target <10 days
• Member of AEC technical committee

put designers on a faster path to innovation, which allows time to build in morefunctionality while minimizing project risks.

COMPLETESOLUTIONSZERODEFECTSCONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENTQUALITY
ECOSYSTEMHIGHER
STANDARDS

1

DRIVER INFORMATION

3DRIVER ASSISTANCE (RADAR)

2

DRIVER ASSISTANCE (CAMERA)

4

INFOTAINMENT
89Advancing Software Quality

Maximizing Adoption

Xilinx develops its software in advanceof silicon to drive test development andincrease overall platform quality. The Xilinx
advanced-build methodology, a hallmark
of Xilinx software quality, is characterizedby rigorous integration metrics that are
driving pass rates above 95% acrossall feature categories. Improvements
were introduced in 2010 for feature
regressions, performance stability testing,and new family support testing.

Xilinx FPGA architectures areassessed based on functional blocks
and nodes that are more easily tested
than traditional ASICs and ASSPs.
As a result, every generation of Xilinx
devices has achieved greater than
99.9% test coverage. To acceleratethese advantages, Xilinx works closelywith its partners to drive continuous
improvements into every phase of
manufacturing using a zero-partsper-million (zero ppm) approach.

Speeding Issue Resolution
with Device DNA
For markets that require long-term
product life cycles and extended periodsof support, Xilinx builds serialization
into FPGAs. The “device DNA” points
to complete cradle-to-grave history datathat gives Xilinx and customer support
teams the ability to quickly resolve
issues any time during development
or after deployment.

2
3
1
1
4

2

RMA CASESAVERAGE TAT

X I LI N X Q UALITY C USTO M E R R ETU R N S 2010

Q1
08

Q2
08

Q3
08

Q4
08

FACTORY AVG. TAT

Q1
09

Q2
09

Q3
09

Q4
09

Q1
10

PORTAL CASES OPENED

Q2
10

Q3
10

Q4
10

RMAs CLOSEDOver the last two years, Xilinx has
been working with customers to identify
root cause and drive changes that leadto quality improvements. By partneringwith customers, Xilinx is able to resolve
issues surrounding test escapes,
manufacturing, and customer application
errors. As a result, product returns aredown more than 55% over two years.
On average, RMA processing takes
approximately 15 days from submission
to final report.

4“ For more than a decade, Xilinx has beena trusted supplier of automotive-grade

programmable logic devices and solutions2

for HARMAN’s premium infotainment systems.

3

Their commitment to delivering a high levelof quality, reliability, and responsivenesshas been key to our successful long-term

collaboration.”

MARKUS UNTERTHINER
Director, Supplier Quality Engineering
HARMAN Automotive Division

Xilinx Quality r eport | 2010

AEROSPACE & DEFENSEACCELERATING BREAKTHROUGHS

Xilinx Support for A&D Industry Standards• QML certification since 1997
• Published Rosetta SEU data

Even before the recent economic downturn, the aerospace and defense
industry was under pressure to meet dynamic project specifications in lesstime, with fewer resources, and with shrinking budgets. Two decades asa respected partner in this quality centric industry have given Xilinx great
insights, extensive expertise, and leadership capabilities for meeting themost stringent flight, quality, and reliability requirements.

COMPLETESOLUTIONSZERODEFECTSCONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENTQUALITY
ECOSYSTEM• Most products less than 10 FIT

Partnering with Xilinx has resulted in many
products achieving zero PPM:
• 100% A&D products• 99% Automotive products• 50% Consumer and Industrial products

HIGHER
STANDARDS

1

RUGGEDIZED DEVICES

3SPACE APPLICATIONS

2AVIONICS SYSTEMS

4

SECURE COMMUNICATIONS
10
11Ruggedizing Devices
Xilinx is the first and only vendor tooffer high-density radiation-hardened
reconfigurable FPGAs for space
applications as part of a broad portfolioof commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
devices. Superb quality, with failure rates
of less than one ppm for the XQ device
family, is backed by full temperature
testing for ruggedized devices. Compatible
space-grade, defense-grade, andcommercial devices come together
within the Xilinx Targeted Design

Platforms to help mission teams control
costs and speed development.

Aligning Quality
Xilinx’s quality approach and metrics
have been proven in silicon andextended to hard IP, soft IP, and tools.
In each category, methodologies arecontinually improved in terms of test
coverage, traceability of requirements,
configuration management, validation ofdesign, verification of test requirements,
and rigorous documentation processes.

Sharing Process Knowledge
Xilinx shares with customers first-handmanufacturing and design expertise
gained during 20 years of focusing on
quality. Proven best practices for design
checklists, collaborative design reviews,
and product qualification techniques
empower customer design teams
to more rapidly and cost-effectively
complete verification and integration.

1

2

3

4

X I LI N X Q UALITY C USTO M E R-R E PO RTE D P P M 2010

Xilinx has a proven history of quality
results, and 2010 is no exception. In
addition to these high-volume products,
many aerospace, defense, and automotive
products achieved zero ppm status.
These achievements stemmed froma focus on root cause analysis andpreventive action, which protects
customers and yields the highestquality FPGA products.

“ Xilinx has provided and continues to provide

FPGAs to NASA for use in its SpaceCube
reconfigurable on-board processing system.
Designed for space applications thatdemand extreme processing capabilities,
SpaceCube is a compact, reconfigurable,
multiprocessor computing platform basedon Virtex® FPGAs. Currently, next generations
with Xilinx FPGAs are under development
as the avionics for future missions such as
satellite servicing, sophisticated science
instrument data processing, CubeSats anda variety of aircraft payload systems. ”
NASA GODDARDXilinx Quality r eport | 2010

D ATA S H E E T C O L O R K E Y

2 010
INNOVATIONSACCELERATING QUALITY FOR LIFE
Calendar year 2010 included many significant quality results for Xilinx, as summarized
in this edition of the Annual Quality Report. Continued adoption of Xilinx technology
has increased reliance on FPGAs to levels that demand the absolute best productperformance. As more customers embrace targeted design platforms to accelerate
their development activities, the quality of each platform element — silicon, software,
IP, reference designs, and hardware — underscores the value of integrated solutions.
Xilinx quality teams, therefore, are more motivated than ever to apply this provenstrategy for providing high-value products.

Springboarding to the
Next Generation
With the launch of the 28nm 7 series
platforms, Xilinx continues to drive
improvement into its NPE/NPI releaseprocess based on generational
learning from the previous 40/45nm
node. Improvements in all aspects ofdesign, simulation tools, verification
methodologies, characterization
automation, and advancement intechnology such as stacked-siliconinterconnect (SSI) have strengthened
Xilinx industry leadership.

A Team Effort

Upholding Xilinx Signature Values

Xilinx has proven with each generationthat close partnering with world-class
suppliers results in the highest-quality
products. These partner relationships,
combined with Xilinx engineeringexpertise and more than 20 years ofexperience as a fabless semiconductor
company, put Xilinx in a unique position
to extract value from this supply chain
ecosystem and use it to deliver flawlessquality to customers.

Xilinx continues to build on the company’s
inherent culture and traditions of
excellence to accelerate customers’
development cycles. It is working—customer feedback indicates thatdesigners are now able to realize theefficiencies gained from high-quality
products to realize even more benefits
from choosing Xilinx FPGAs combinedwith related tools and services.

“ As we continue our efforts in 2011, I believe
this will be the year of even stronger“ In 2010, our close collaboration withpartnerships that will further accelerate

Xilinx has led to breakthrough technology

our customers’ product innovations. ”

advancements, including the industry’s

JACK ELWARD

first 28nm tapeout, and the world’s first

Vice President, Worldwide Quality Systems
and Customer Support

multidie FPGA using new stacked-siliconinterconnect technology. Our talented
technical teams have leveraged TSMC’s
leadership as the world’s leading foundry
and Xilinx’s leadership in FPGA design andarchitecture to enable Xilinx to deliver a
best-in-class suite of 28nm FPGA
platforms in 2011.”
DR. SHANG-YI CHIANG
Senior Vice President of R&D

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTORMANUFACTURING COMPANY, LIMITEDXILINX, INC.

XILINXQUALITYCASESTUDIES“ Xilinx’s innovative FPGA technology
helps us push the limits. ”
H. PENNING
Director of Corporate Quality Management

ROHDE & SCHWARZCorporate Headquarters
Xilinx, Inc.
2100 Logic Drive
San Jose, CA 95124
USA
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Singapore 486040
Tel: +65-6407-3000
www.xilinx.com

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For more information about Xilinx and its
Targeted Design Platform solutions, visit:www.xilinx.com/quality© Copyright 2011 Xilinx, Inc. XILINX, the Xilinx logo, Virtex, Spartan, ISE
and other designated brands included herein are trademarks of Xilinx in the
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