BusinessWire

September 13, 2006 08:10 AM Pacific Time

Avnet Electronics Marketing Releases New EXP Expansion Specification for FPGA Development Boards

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 13, 2006--Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, the largest operating group of Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT), today announced the release of the EXP expansion module specification. This next generation specification was developed exclusively by Avnet engineers to meet the unique requirements of FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) development boards and is being offered free to design engineers for use on custom baseboards and expansion modules.

Finding an FPGA development baseboard that has the exact features a designer requires can be a challenge and EXP-enabled baseboards offer a simple solution. Engineers at Avnet have developed a new EXP expansion specification that adds versatility to prototype platforms by allowing designers the ability to add application-specific daughter cards and easily connect to FPGA I/Os (Input/Outputs). EXP-enabled baseboards allow for easy expansion of FPGA-based baseboards through a wide range of plug-on functions including memory, communications interfaces, high-speed analog front ends and custom designs. The specification also allows for both single-end and differential signaling, which provides high-speed, flexible interfaces for a wide range of application add-on modules. The end result is a high-performance, low-cost means of adding modules or cables to FPGA-based baseboards that allow designers to take full advantage of their FPGA designs.

"The EXP expansion module and the EXP-enabled boards arm designers with the necessary tools to customize their hardware development environment and take full advantage of their FPGA designs," said Tim Barber, vice president of Xilinx business development for Avnet Electronics Marketing. "We feel the new EXP expansion standard surpasses other products already on the market and we hope manufacturers of FPGA development boards and expansion modules will take advantage of the opportunity to adopt this expansion module specification for their designs."

EXP expansion slots are already included on several Avnet development boards available today and will also be included on future boards as well. Contact your local Avnet field application engineer for more information or visit Avnet's Web site at www.em.avnet.com/exp to learn more about the EXP specification.

About Avnet Electronics Marketing

Avnet Electronics Marketing is the largest operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet Inc., a Fortune 500 company. Avnet Electronics Marketing serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in 68 countries, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services. The group's Web site is located at http://www.em.avnet.com.

Avnet markets, adds value to, and distributes the products of the world's leading electronic component suppliers, computer manufacturers and embedded subsystem providers. The company also offers supply and engineering design-chain services. For the fiscal year ended July 1, 2006, Avnet generated revenue of $14.25 billion. Visit www.avnet.com/