Mitsubishi Electric Signs Patent License Agreement With Rambus For SDRAM & DDR SDRAM Memory and Controllers
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 2, 2001--Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Rambus Inc. signed a patent license agreement for SDRAM, Double Data Rate (DDR) SDRAM memory and controllers that directly interface with these types of memory.
Tuesday January 2, 4:31 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
The new agreement covers patents for fundamental aspects of high-speed memory interfaces invented by Rambus, which are currently being implemented in SDRAM, DDR SDRAM and controllers that directly interface with these types of memory.
Under the licensing agreement, the royalty rates for DDR SDRAM and the controllers which directly interface with DDR SDRAM are greater than the RDRAM compatible rates. The agreement also includes royalties for SDRAM and for controllers that directly interface with SDRAM, as well as a license fee for the entire agreement. The agreement is effective for shipments of licensed products by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. beginning July 1, 2000.
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. joins a growing list of semiconductor suppliers who have agreed to sign a patent license agreement. This agreement ensures them the rights to the Rambus patents used for current and future memory and logic products. Dataquest ranks Mitsubishi Electric Corp. as the world's eighth largest DRAM supplier with revenues of $875M and 3.8% market share and the world's 13th largest semiconductor supplier with revenues totaling $4,474M in 1999.
Seven companies, Samsung, NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi, Oki, Elpida and Mitsubishi Electric Corp, have so far signed SDRAM and DDR SDRAM license agreements with Rambus. According to Dataquest, their cumulative DRAM market share in 1999 was greater than 40% and four of these companies are listed among the top 10 semiconductor suppliers in the world.
About Rambus Inc.
Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq: RMBS - news) is an intellectual property company that designs, develops and licenses high-bandwidth chip-connection technologies which enable semiconductor memory devices to keep pace with faster generations of processors and controllers. To date, these efforts have resulted in more than 100 U.S. and foreign patents issued to Rambus. Rambus has licensed its technology to approximately 30 semiconductor companies for the development, manufacture and sale of Rambus-compatible ICs. Providers of Rambus-based integrated circuits include the world's leading DRAM, ASIC, controller and microprocessor manufacturers.
Rambus is a registered trademark of Rambus Inc. |
