MileHigh and Ibexx - Rambus at the Intel Developers Forum
Paul
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Tuesday September 15, 6:31 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Rambus Announces Validation Program to
Accelerate Transition to Direct Rambus Memory
Systems
OEMs and Component Suppliers to Gain Faster Time to Market
and System Issue Resolution
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 1998--Rambus Inc.
(NASDAQ:RMBS - news) announced today at the Intel Developer Forum, a new
component Validation Program to further enable a smooth transition to the Direct
Rambus(tm) memory systems in 1999.
The Validation Program establishes uniform verification procedures for Direct Rambus memory system
components allowing system companies faster system integration and issue resolution. Validation procedures
are being established for all the major components of a Direct Rambus memory system, which are the Direct
RDRAMs(R) devices, RIMM(tm) modules, RIMM connectors and clock components.
''Operation at ever-increasing clock frequencies leaves little margin for error in today's system designs,'' said
Nathan Brookwood, PC Semiconductor Analyst, Dataquest. ''Shorter product life cycles force vendors to
debug, test and qualify components in ever-decreasing amounts of time. They must ramp their production more
rapidly than ever but cannot afford mistakes. The Rambus Validation program provides an excellent example of
how vendors can innovate not only in the design of their products, but also in the way they test and ensure
interoperability of their offerings.''
Building on Intel's industry experience with PC 100 SDRAM memory components, the Direct Rambus
Validation program is a process to verify that components comply with their specifications. Initially, Rambus will
direct the verification process while enabling independent test houses to support the procedures. In the longer
term, suppliers will be able to ''self-validate'' their components. ''While the Validation Program will be
continuously improved, its foundation is a uniform specification and design framework to which all suppliers
adhere,'' stated Allen Roberts, General Manager for Rambus' Memory Technology Division. ''Validation
maximizes compatibility of the components by creating common verification procedures across suppliers. The
common procedures will greatly increase interoperability across suppliers.''
OEMs and Component Suppliers Support the Rambus Validation Program
''Moving to higher speed technology can be a challenge. We have been working with Rambus to ensure that the
validation program will meet the level of verification and quality that our system integration teams require,'' Jan
Janick, Vice President of Desktop Development, Desktop Systems, IBM Corporation. ''Knowing that the
components are validated to work to the system specification will shorten our system integration cycle and
ensure a high level of quality to our end users.''
''Rambus' validation program will result in better interoperability between suppliers and improve the starting
point for our system level qualification,'' said Henry Li, Manager, Memory Technology Center, HP Procurement,
Hewlett-Packard Company [NYSE:HWP - news]. ''The validation program is critical not only to get the first
systems to market in a timely manner, but also to provide a solid tool for guiding the continuous improvement of
each component.''
''Rambus is putting in place for the industry a Validation program that builds on the experiences that we learned
as we moved from 66MHz to PC100 SDRAMs last year,'' said Jay Bell, Vice President and Senior Fellow at
Dell Computer Corporation [Nasdaq:DELL - news]. ''Having such things as common test hardware, test
programs, load boards etc. make us feel more comfortable receiving validated components from our suppliers,
and then starting these into our system qualification process. This will help Dell improve its internal qualification
process.''
''We've been working with Rambus to define an RDRAM validation procedure which is similar to Intel's PC100
SDRAM procedure, and we fully support the Rambus Validation process,'' said Dr. H. K. Lim, Sr. Vice
President and General Manager of Memory Product and Technology Division, Samsung Electronics Company,
Ltd. ''Having a unified validation specification from Rambus will benefit both RDRAM suppliers and OEMs by
maintaining good device and module compatibility across multiple suppliers.''
''Clearly defined validation procedures are required before production volumes can begin manufacture,'' said
Jeff Mailloux, DRAM Marketing Manager at Micron Technology, Inc. ''Since Micron will be making Direct
RDRAM devices and RIMM modules, we feel this will be an important step for ensuring these products perform
in a wide variety of systems.''
''Working with Rambus, the new validation procedures benefit from our experience and test environment,'' said
John Sutherland, Director, New Product Development, Kingston Technology Company. ''While Kingston has
enjoyed the reputation for high quality memory products, these validation procedures will enable us to build even
higher quality modules using Direct RDRAM components.''
''OEMs want access to production components as early in the system design cycle as possible,'' said C. S.
Han, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning Office, Semiconductor Group, Hyundai Electronics Industry Co.,
Ltd. ''With the fully specified validation procedures in place, our Rambus components will be able to get to
production faster, and OEMs will be able to use them sooner in their production systems.''
Companies that have already announced their support of Direct Rambus components for main memory include
14 DRAM companies, ten independent module manufacturers, three connector companies and eight clock chip
suppliers. (For a list of these companies, see the footnotes section.) Planned system applications for Direct
Rambus technology include computers, multimedia and graphics, communications, and consumer electronics.
Intel Corp. [Nasdaq:INTC - news] has announced plans it will enable Direct RDRAM as the main memory
technology for mainstream performance desktop PCs in 1999.
Direct Rambus technology will enable the DRAM industry's highest level of performance to date -- 1.6 gigabytes
per second of peak bandwidth from a single device -- and will span multiple generations of DRAM devices
(through 1-gigabit densities). Developed in conjunction with Intel Corp. and in cooperation with DRAM and other
semiconductor partners, the Direct Rambus interface achieves its unprecedented performance through
electrical and architectural extensions to currently available Rambus technology.
Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS - news), based in Mountain View, Calif., develops and licenses high-speed
chip-to-chip interface technology that enables semiconductor memory devices to keep pace with faster
generations of processors and controllers. Providers of Rambus-based integrated circuits include the world's
leading DRAM, ASIC and PC controller manufacturers. Currently, eight of the world's top-10 semiconductor
companies license Rambus technology and seven of the world's top PC makers have shipped systems using
the technology. More information on Rambus Inc. and its high-bandwidth interface technology is available at
rambus.com.
Notes to Editors:
The following companies have announced plans to provide Direct Rambus memory components:
-0-
-- DRAM Manufacturers: Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd. [NYSE:HIT - news], Hyundai
Electronics Industry Co., Ltd., IBM Corporation, Kingston
Technology Co., LG Semicon Co., Ltd., Micron Technology,
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, NEC Corporation [Nasdaq:NIPNY - news], Oki Electric
Industry Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd., Siemens
AG, Toshiba Corporation, Vanguard International Semiconductor
Corporation
-- Independent module manufacturers: Apacer Technology Inc.,
Celestica Inc. [NYSE:CLS - news], GoldenRAM, Kingston Technology Co., Memory Card
Technology, SiliconTech, Inc, SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. [Nasdaq:SMOD - news],
Southland Micro Systems, Tanisys Technology, Inc., Viking
Components
-- Connector makers: AMP Incorporated [NYSE:AMP - news], Berg Electronics and Molex
Incorporated [Nasdaq:MOLX - news]
-- Clock-chip makers: Cypress Semiconductor Corp. [NYSE:CY - news], Integrated
Circuit Systems Inc. [Nasdaq:ICST - news], IC WORKS, International Microcircuits Inc.,
NEC Corporation, Pericom Semiconductor Corporation [Nasdaq:PSEM - news], Philips
Semiconductors, Inc., Texas Instruments Incorporated
Rambus, the Rambus logo and RDRAM are registered trademarks of Rambus Inc. Direct Rambus, Direct
RDRAM and RIMM are trademarks of Rambus Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the expected benefits of the Validation
Program and the performance, market acceptance and date of availability of Direct Rambus memory system
components and systems incorporating Direct RDRAM technology. Actual results may differ materially. Among
the factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are dependence upon the commitment and
success of third parties, such as Intel and Rambus' DRAM partners, in developing and marketing components
and systems incorporating Rambus technology and participating in the Validation Program; the highly technical
nature of the issues that the Validation Program is designed to address; rapid technological change in the
markets addressed by Rambus; and the potential development of competing technologies.
Contact:
Rambus Inc.
Julie Cates, 650/944-7725
cates@rambus.com
More Quotes
and News:
AMP Inc (NYSE:AMP - news)
Celestica Inc (NYSE:CLS - news)
Cypress Semiconductor Corp (NYSE:CY - news)
Dell Computer Corp (Nasdaq:DELL - news)
Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE:HWP - news)
Hitachi Ltd (NYSE:HIT - news)
Integrated Circuit Systems Inc (Nasdaq:ICST - news)
Intel Corp (Nasdaq:INTC - news)
Molex Inc (Nasdaq:MOLX - news)
NEC Corp (Nasdaq:NIPNY - news)
Pericom Semiconductor Corp (Nasdaq:PSEM - news)
Rambus Inc (Nasdaq:RMBS - news)
SMART Modular Technologies, Inc (Nasdaq:SMOD - news)
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