Date: 06/12 00:15 EST
Intel 'grads' to ramp volume DRDRAM
Jun. 11, 1999 (Electronic Buyers News - CMP via COMTEX) -- Silicon
Valley- Intel Corp. has been busy handing out the sheepskin to industry
DRAM suppliers, which are in the process of passing their memory
devices through the company's Direct Rambus DRAM validation program.
Samsung Semiconductor Inc. is the most recent chip vendor to earn its
diploma, and earlier this month, received Intel's stamp of approval on
a range of Rambus module densities, including 64- and 128-Mbyte RIMMs.
Samsung joins module maker Kingston Technology Inc., Fountain Valley,
Calif., which has also been granted validation for its RIMMs in
densities ranging from 72 to 288 Mbytes. Other memory-chip and -module
suppliers to have received validation from Intel for RIMMs of varying
densities include Hyundai, LG Semicon, NEC, and Smart Modular
Technologies, according to Intel's validation Web site.
With its RIMMs cleared for takeoff, San Jose-based Samsung will begin
moving from the sample stage to volume production of Direct RDRAM,
according to Avo Kanadjian, senior vice president of memory marketing
at Samsung. "The validations reinforce the industry's confidence in the
Rambus program," Kanadjian said. "We've started mass production to
ensure volume deliveries in September to meet our customers' product
launch dates."
Micron Technology Inc., meanwhile, is bucking to become the next DRAM
supplier to receive validation for its Rambus components. The Boise,
Idaho, company has sent 128/144-Mbit Direct RDRAM samples to Intel and
expects to begin mass producing 600-, 712-, and 800-MHz double-clocked
devices in the second half of the year. The chips will be manufactured
on a 0.18-micron process, which the company claims will allow it to
achieve the smallest die size in the industry.
"Right now, we're working as hard to ramp as our customers would like
us to," said Jeff Mailloux, Micron's marketing manager for DRAM. "We're
preparing and putting things in place assuming that [Direct RDRAM and
its supporting Camino chipset] will make the September launch date."
Mailloux would not speculate as to when Micron expects to receive
validation for its RIMMs. According to Dataquest Inc., San Jose, Direct
RDRAM, as tracked on a per-Mbyte basis, will account for just 3% of all
DRAM shipped this year, but will jump to half of all DRAM shipments in
2001.
In a related development, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel has
formally designated three speed grades of Direct RDRAM as PC600, PC700,
and PC800, according to confidential industry roadmaps obtained by EBN.
The designations are meant to represent Direct RDRAM's faster speeds
relative to existing PC100 and PC133 SDRAM, and to differentiate it
from PC266 double-data-rate SDRAM.
|
