Hi mishedlo; Re questions:
What is CAS? Column Address Strobe, I think. It's been an acryonym for so long I doubt anyone is sure. I see I used the term "CAS delay". The more common term is "CAS latency". It's the time delay between applying a column address and getting back the read data.
Can the memory controller be stand alone, or is it always in a chipset? Memory controllers exist in every single product that uses memory. No exceptions, at least that I can think of right now.
Why are you presuming Rambus is asking for 4% of $500 when a chipset sells for $20. I believe that 4% is the royalty that Rambus is asking for memory controllers. If you embed a memory controller in a larger chip, it is still a memory controller. Remember, if it uses memory, it has to have a memory controller.
Is it possible that this is just all part of the negotiations now that is holding up a settlement? I doubt it. The majority of the industry considers Rambus to be a useless company, a technological fraud. A hollow shell of pompous liars with little understanding of technology. Why should they pay royalties when they don't think Rambus invented SDRAM?
Is there any way to know what Toshiba and the others that have signed up are paying, or are they only in the memory business and not the chipset/controller business? I don't believe that Rambus has publicly stated what SDRAM and DDR controller royalty percentages Toshiba &c., have agreed to pay. They have stated that RDRAM controller royalties are about 4%, I believe.
Is a chipset really $20? Chipset prices for DDR, SDRAM, and RAMBUS? This is an interesting question, in that it shows the current bankruptcy of RDRAM in the desktop market. Intel sells the 815 (SDRAM) chipset for about $45, while the 820 (RDRAM) chipset goes for about $25. The difference in price is due to the low demand for RDRAM as opposed to SDRAM. It is the equivalent of the rebate on P4s that Intel has announced for 4Q00 and 1Q01. The cheaper RDRAM chipsets also means that the motherboards made with those chipsets are also quite cheap, as compared to 815s. This means that Intel makes a lot less money on RDRAM chipsets than it does on SDRAM chipsets, and it is pretty obvious where Intel is going to go as a result. RDRAM has been a disaster for Intel.
Four percent royalties on a CPU does not seem reasonable to me, either. It would be nice to know what the royalties on Timna would have been, but I believe that Rambus kept that secret.
At this point, with the current price of RMBS, the IP of Rambus is only significant as it applies to SDRAM and DDR. Should be fun to watch.
-- Carl |
