NEC signs new chip licensing agreement with Rambus
TOKYO, Sept 13 (Reuters) - NEC Corp , the world's second-largest chipmaker, said on
Wednesday that it has signed a new chip licensing agreement with Rambus Inc
(NasdaqNM:RMBS - news), a developer of technology to speed the performance of
memory chips.
This is the latest in a series of licence agreements between Japanese chipmakers and the
Santa Clara, Calif-based Rambus, which designs, but does not actually build, memory chips.
Rambus licenses its technology to chipmakers for use in their own memory products. Rambus holds 95 U.S. and foreign
patents which it has licensed to over 30 semiconductor companies.
The latest pact covers synchronous dynamic ramdom access memory chips, or SDRAMs, and Double Data Rate (DDR) and
net-generation RDRAMs, and expands collaboration since 1991 under which NEC develops, manufactures and markets
RDRAM and Rambus ASIC Cell (RAC) memory devices.
The pact also includes the development of next-generation Direct RDRAM (Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory),
which would deliver a 33 percent frequency improvement from the current 800 MHz RDRAM in memory applications, it said
in a statement.
``We have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship with NEC,'' said Geoff Tate, Rambus' chief executive officer. "We
are pleased to extend the cooperation between our two companies by agreeing to develop and market the next-generation
Direct RDRAM.
As part of this larger strategic agreement, NEC and Rambus also signed an agreement covering patents for fundamental aspects
of high-speed memory interfaces invented by Rambus, which are currently being implemented in SDRAM, DDR SDRAM
memory and controllers that directly interface with those types of memory devices.
Other Japanese chipmakers such as Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd have recently formed patent licensing deals, which should
bring additional royalty gains for Rambus.
Shares in NEC were up 0.36 percent at 2,805 yen at Tokyo midday, while Rambus shares ended at $76-13/16 on Nasdaq
overnight. |
