Lots of RMBS news from EE Times...This is the only fresh stuff for the most part..New line of thinking in bold (my annotation)..
September 28, 1998, Issue: 1128
Section: Viewpoints
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct RDRAM will test supplier/OEM bonds
Andrew MacLellan
Following two years of development, reams of marketing foils, and several hard-fought skirmishes with rival architectures, Direct Rambus DRAM has finally shouldered its way onto the PC gravy train.
Lingering issues surrounding heat dissipation, die size, scalability, and chip-scale packaging availability have all been resolved to the satisfaction of at least four leading OEMs-Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM. Now, with the bulk of the engineering load behind them, Rambus Inc. and its patron in the PC market, Intel Corp., are entering a new phase in the rollout of the most anticipated high-speed memory interface in recent history.
But the partners' next challenge could be the biggest yet-to build a lasting line of communication between DRAM suppliers and PC makers. And the consequences loom large.
If these mutually exploitative yet interdependent industry segments can join hands around a common architecture, then a sizable slice of the computing world will have opened the dialogue it needs to eliminate-or at least mitigate-the wildly fluctuating inventories that have plagued all players in the channel.
OEMs, for their part, are being urged to be honest about their requirements, and component suppliers to be candid about their ability to meet demand. Especially during the difficult period of transition to Direct RDRAM, Intel is asking PC makers to extend their parts forecast from the current three months to six months, and even nine if necessary.
Such were the sentiments echoed by Peter D. MacWilliams, Intel fellow and the company's director of platform architecture, at the recent Intel Developer Forum in Palm Springs, Calif.
"The key issue with the [Rambus] ramp is to get OEMs and DRAM vendors to start talking about what their volumes are going to be," MacWilliams said in a telephone interview. "We hope we can facilitate discussion between the vendors and OEMs to get longer lead times than there are today.
"It's critical for DRAM vendors to know what supply will be like," he added.
Rambus is doing its part to draw suppliers and OEMs together by launching a Direct RDRAM validation program. To guide the initiative through its tentative first steps, Rambus will oversee all chip, module, connector, and clock validation personally. In time, however, the program will be opened up to independent test houses, and eventually, to an industrywide partnership of DRAM vendors and OEMs.
As put by Subodh Toprani, vice president and general manager of Rambus' logic products division: "We want to enable the industry and then get out of the way."
Given the complexity of the emerging technology, such cooperation will not only limit unwelcome surprises for vendors and OEMs alike, but in the long term could prove vital if the industry wishes to improve its frequently flawed demand forecasts.
-Andrew MacLellan (amaclell@cmp.com) is EBN's West Coast bureau chief.
Copyright ® 1998 CMP Media Inc.
|
