Introduction:
At the time of writing this article, Xilinx has been around for 20 years. In that
time, it has released many versions of its software and has gone through at least
two very visible (to users) changes to the structure of the software.
Over the years, as IC products have been de-emphasised, or superseded, Xilinx has
stopped improvements to software that supports these older IC products, and has
stopped including the support for them in their sw releases.
This article tries to identify the products supported by the various releases of
the software, but I know the following information is incomplete, and probably
has errors. If you have additional information that would help this page, please
email me (see the bottom of the page) with additional information.
The primary goal of this article is to help unfortunate engineers that are trying
to maintain old designs, and need to find out which version of software they need,
because current software does not support their design any more. For these
projects, you will need to find a copy of the old software, including whatever
schematic program or HDL software was used, and their associated libraries. You
will also need to get the appropriate security key to enable the software. Good
luck.
The following lists suggested versions of Xilinx software to use if targeting any
particular device family. See below for details on each release.
XC2000 - XACT 5.2.1/6.0.1
XC3000/L - XACT 5.2.1/6.0.1
XC3000A - XACT 5.2.1/6.0.1 (Note: Early versions of the M1 software supported XC5200
but many reported better results using the XACT software)
XC4000/A/L/D - XACT 5.2.1/6.0.1
XC4000E/EX/XL/XLA/XV - ISE Classics (A.K.A. ISE 4.2i)
XC5200 - XACT 5.2.1/6.0.1 (Note: Early versions of the M1 software supported XC5200
but many reported better results using the XACT software)
Spartan/XL - ISE Classics (A.K.A. ISE 4.2i)
Spartan-II/IIE/3 - Latest version of ISE software
Virtex/E/EM/-II/-II Pro/-II Pro X/4 - Latest version of ISE software
The basic software for epoch 1 (1984 through 1992) supported the XC2000 and XC3000
products.
The software product ran on Intel DOS 80286/80386 type PCs and required the use
of a memory manager (such as EMM386 or QEMM) to get around the issues of the
640K memory size limit.
The original software introduced in 1984 did not contain any automated place and
route and consisted mainly as the Xilinx Design Editor (XDE) for design entry,
placement and routing. Later in 1986, the first Automatic Place and Route (APR)
program was introduced and supported the XC2000 family. Later in 1987, support
for the XC3000 device was added.
Product Name: XACT
Function Program Name
Place and Route APR
Chip Editor Xilinx Design Editor (XDE)
Static Timing analysis XDELAY
Netlist format XNF
Physical database format LCA
Bitstream generator MAKEBITS
PROM file formatter MAKEPROM
Schematic Entry Futurenet (Xilinx OEM)
Schema (3rd Party software)
Orcad-SDT (3rd Party software)
Simulation Silos (Xilinx OEM)
Orcad-VST (3rd Party Software)
In-Circuit Emulator XACTOR
Synthesis Abel
CUPL
The software required security keys attached to the parallel port of the PC,
labeled the AA or AB keys.
Third party software may required additional keys, depending on vendor.
Software distribution was on 5-1/4 inch floppies
The basic software for epoch 2 (1990 through 1996) supported the XC3000 and the
XC4000 products. This software had similar PC requirements as the previous generation
however the later versions (XACT 6) included Windows 3.11 support. The software also
supported the SunOS operating system and HP-UX.
Product Name: XACT Step
Function Program Name
Place and Route APR and PPR
Chip Editor Xilinx Design Editor (XDE)
Design Manager XDM
Build manager XMAKE
Static Timing analysis XDELAY
Download cable manager XCHECKER
Netlist format XNF
Netlist utilities XNFPREP, XNFMERGE, XNFMAP, MAP2LCA
IP Generation Tool XBLOX
Physical database format LCA
Bitstream generator MAKEBITS
PROM file formatter MAKEPROM
Schematic Entry Futurenet (3rd Party Software)
Orcad (3rd Party software)
Viewdraw (Xilinx OEM)
Simulation Silos (3rd Party Software)
ViewSim (Xilinx OEM)
Cadence Concept
Mentor Design Architect
Synthesis Abel
CUPL
FPGA_Express
ViewSynthesis
The software required FLEXLM security keys. For the UNIX versions of the software,
a FLEXLM floating license server must be used to generate the licensing. For the PC,
a parallel port security key known as the "C" or "AC" keys and can be identified as
beige in color with the Xilinx name and logo molded into the key. A sticker with
a bar code and ID number resides on the opposite side. License generation for this
software is still possible by request.
Third party software may require additional keys, depending on vendor.
Software distribution was on 5-1/4 inch floppies and 3-1/2 inch floppies and
later a CD-ROM.
The last version of this software was Xact Step 5.2.1 (for DOS 6.22)
and Xact Step 6.0.1 (for MS Windows 3.11)
Detailed Part Number list (for 5.2.1/6.0.1):
(* means this is the last version of software that supported the product)
(** means that while these products were supported up to ISE 4.2i,
XACT Step 5.2.1 is the recommended software)
* 2018 2018L
* 2064 2064L
* 3020
* 3020L 3020A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3030
* 3030L 3030A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3042
* 3042L 3042A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3064
* 3064L 3064A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3090
* 3090L 3090A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3095
* 3095A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3120
* 3120A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3130
* 3130A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3142
* 3142A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3164
* 3164A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3190
* 3190A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 3195
* 3195A (updated 4/21/2014, Not supported in 4.2i)
* 4002 4002A
* 4003 4003A 4003H
4003E
* 4004A
* 4005 4005A 4005H
4005E
* 4006
4006E
* 4008
4008E
* 4010 4010D
4010E
* 4013 4013D
4013E
4020E
** 5202
** 5204
** 5206
** 5210
** 5215
NOTE: XACTStep is available by request from the Xilinx hotline however,
it is not recommended for new designs. The last version of XACTStep pre-dated
Windows95 and thus the GUI portion of the software is not recommended to be used
on modern OSes but the command-line should in theory work. Under duress, I
have made changes to old design, using the command line version of the software
(5.2.1) . It is quite problematic to get ALL the old software to work on current
computers, due to memory system changes, graphics (Viewdraw and Viewsim), and
security key issues. A possible suggestion to improve this situation is to either
setup an old computer with DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.11 (if you need FloorPlanner
or other GUIs) or using a virtual Machine such as VMWare to emulate older
hardware/OSes. Another possibility would be to use an interpreter like WINE under
Linux to run the software however that has not been confirmed as a working solution.
The basic software for epoch 3.1 (1996 through 2002) supported the XC4000E
XC4000EX, XC4000XL, XC4000XLA, Spartan, Virtex. OS support was for Windows
95/98/ME/2000 and Solaris 2.5/2.6.
Product Name: (Known informally as "M1", came in a few configurations)
ISE (Integrated Software Environment)
ISE WebPack (Free, device limited version of above software)
FND (Foundation)
ALI (Alliance)
Function Program Name
Design Manager Design Manager/Flow Engine
Build Manager XFlow
Place and Route PAR
Chip Editor FPGA_Editor
Static Timing analysis TRCE (trace)
Netlist format XNF and EDIF
Physical database format NCD
Bitstream generator bitgen
IP Generation Program LogiBlox / Coregen
Download cable manager Hardware Debugger (hwdebugr)
Schematic Entry Viewdraw
Aldec
Cadence Concept
Mentor Design Architect
Simulation Viewsim
VCS
Verilog-XL
ModelSim
VSS
Synthesis Abel
Verilog (multiple vendors)
VHDL (multiple vendors)
The first versions of this software required FLEXLM licensing similar
to that of previous versions. Versions after 1.4 no longer needed
FLEXLM licensing however instead required a registration ID supplied
from Xilinx to install the software. There is no time-out and once
installed, the software should continue working indefinitely.
Third party software may require additional keys, depending on vendor.
Software distribution is on CD
ISE 4.2i is still available from the ISE Classics webpage:
http://www.xilinx.com/webpack/classics/spartan_4k/index.htm
This version of software does not include a synthesis tool. If re-synthesis
is needed, most 3rd party synthesis vendors still support these older
architectures.
The following products were last supported in ISE 4.2i:
XC4000EX, XC4000XL, XC4000XLA, XC4000XV
Spartan, Spartan-XL
Third party software may required a security keys, depending on vendor.
Software distribution is on CD
The basic software for epoch 3.2 (2002 through present) supports the
Spartan-II and later Spartans and all Virtex device families
OS support is currently for Windows 2000/XP, Solaris 2.7/2.8, Linux Red
Hat Enterprise Edition 3.0.
The most recent version (as of the writing of this page, Oct. 2004) is
ISE 6.3.1 which introduced support for the Virtex-4 device.
Product Name: ISE FND (Foundation)
ISE WebPack (Free, device limited version of above software)
ISE ALI (Aliance)
Function Program Name
Design Manager Project Navigator
Build Manager XFlow
Place and Route PAR
Chip Editor FPGA_Editor
Static Timing analysis TRCE (trace)
Download cable manager Impact
Netlist format EDIF
Physical database format NCD
Bitstream generator bitgen
IP Generation Program Coregen
Schematic Entry ECS
Simulation VCS-MX
NC-Sim
ModelSim
ModelSim Xilinx Edition (OEM)
Synthesis Abel
Verilog (multiple vendors)
VHDL (multiple vendors)
The Xilinx software does not require a security key, but does require a
registration code during installation.
Third party software may require additional keys, depending on vendor.
Software distribution is on multiple CDs.
Orphans (products that were not distributed widely, and had their own
special version of software:
XC3720 (3020 with built in EPROM)
XC6200 (fine grain reconfigurable, from Algotronix (CAL) heritage)
XC8100 (Antifuse product - announced, sampled and discontinued)
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