SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 1996--Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) announced today that it has shipped the five millionth unit of its popular XC4000 field programmable gate array (FPGA) product family.

"This is a significant milestone in the programmable logic industry," said Chuck Fox, vice president of marketing at Xilinx. "Since Xilinx began to ramp production of these devices in 1992, the XC4000 family has become the industry's single most successful FPGA product line. More significant, if the XC4000 products were manufactured by a separate company producing only XC4000 products today, that company would be the world's third largest supplier of overall programmable logic devices based on revenues."

Since its launch, the XC4000 family has contributed more than $561 million in revenues to Xilinx. The XC4000 reached its one-million-unit milestone in mid-1994. In the last two years XC4000 shipments have accelerated dramatically. Xilinx surpassed the two millionth, three millionth and four millionth milestones for the XC4000 in 1995 and exceeded the five millionth mark this quarter.

Xilinx commemorated the milestone by recognizing Acuson Corp. (NYSE:ACN) as the recipient of the five millionth XC4000 FPGA. Acuson has been a customer of Xilinx since the late 1980s and has used Xilinx FPGAs in a variety of products, including the 128(tm) XP and Sequoia(tm) ultrasound systems.

"As medical technology continues to advance at a phenomenal rate, the success of Acuson more and more depends on our ability to design and deliver the best products possible in the shortest amount of time," said Acuson president and COO Robert Gallagher. "The Xilinx XC4000 has greatly contributed to our technological vision and has helped us provide cost-effective solutions for the needs of our dynamic marketplace. We are delighted to share in the XC4000's success."

Xilinx pioneered FPGA technology and in 1985 began shipping its first product family, the XC2000, which featured 800 gates. Through subsequent generations of products Xilinx has continually increased the density and performance of its FPGAs. Today the XC4000 is the company's flagship product line for high density, high speed applications. Announced devices in the newest XC4000EX family offer densities ranging from 3,000 to more than 125,000 logic gates.

Located in Mountain View, Calif., Acuson is a leading international manufacturer and service provider of medical diagnostic ultrasound systems and image management products. The companyUs products are used in hospitals, clinics and healthcare delivery systems throughout the world.

Founded in 1984, Xilinx is the world's largest supplier of programmable logic solutions comprising industry leading device architectures and world class design software. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the company pioneered the market for field programmable gate array (FPGA) semiconductor devices that provide high integration and quick time-to-market for electronic equipment manufacturers in the computer, peripherals, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation and high reliability/military markets. -0-

Note to Editors: For more information on Xilinx, access our World Wide Web site at http://www.xilinx.com. Xilinx is a registered trademark of Xilinx Inc. All XC-prefix product designations, Select-RAM, HardWire and XACTstep are trademarks of Xilinx Inc. Other brands or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Xilinx, Inc.

Ann Duft, 408/879-4726

ann.duft@xilinx.com