Sandeep Vig
Xilinx

Although "triple play" may be one of the hottest buzzwords and growth drivers in the semiconductor industry, it is insightful to understand the evolution of the technology that was required to realize triple play, the forces behind its explosive growth, challenges that will occur along the way, and the critical role of Xilinx Virtex-5 products in the development and deployment of triple-play products and services.

Central to the Virtex-5 platform's value is the recent emergence of two serial I/O standards: Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and PCI Express (PCIe). In the last three years, these two interfaces have become the defacto connectivity standards for network and computing applications; according to Electronic Trend Publications, GbE and PCIe will account for 80% of all port shipments in 2009.