Rambus Loses High-End Designs To Memory Rival.
(IBM and Silicon Graphics will develop double data rate DRAM chips for servers and workstations rather than Rambus DRAM)
12/07/98
Electronic News
Page 1(1)
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san jose -- IBM and Silicon Graphics last week said they would design double data rate ( DDR ) dynamic RAM chips into their servers and workstations, giving the technology a big boost in its battle with Rambus DRAM. Hewlett-Packard is also expected to soon announce adoption of DDR in high-end systems.
The developments indicate that although Intel might be able to anoint direct Rambus (D-RDRAM) as the memory technology of choice for personal computers, it has less control over OEMs of higher-end systems. Manufacturers of DRAMs, meanwhile, are hoping to establish DDR as an alternative memory technology because Rambus requires them to make an extra investment in infrastructure and pay royalties to Rambus. If DDR secures a beachhead in servers and workstations, it could advance into the PC arena as well, some believe.
"After thorough consideration, we believe DDR offers better bandwidth per module and better latency than D-RDRAM," said Richard Bahr, vice president of engineering for Silicon Graphics' Server and Supercomputing Business Unit, in a prepared statement. "Moreover, DDR offers lower intrinsic costs both in the DRAM itself and in the ease of integration with our current server architecture."
IBM said it expected DDR to "emerge as the technology of choice, particularly for servers." The company is making a strong commitment to DDR , saying it would only be using DDR memory for its high end servers, according to Lane Mason, product marketing specialist for the memory group at IBM.
In addition, DDR received another lift when a JEDEC committee headed up by 11 DRAM manufacturers standardized the DDR technology, allowing the companies to work together to drive the technology.
"You can't ignore the perceptions of the world that DDR is going to be a viable technology for mainstream markets," said Jim Sogas, director of marketing at Hitachi Semiconductor.
IBM said there are other server/workstation companies that are active in using DDR for their computers but have not made any public statements. There are also a number of chipset vendors working on DDR and a number of system design activitities in both the desktop and notebook space as well, said Mason.
Last week's announcements were downplayed by Subodh Toprani, VP of the Logic Products division at Rambus, who said most of the decisions about server and workstation memory were made in early 1996 when it was thought Rambus was not going to be delivered on time. "My sense is one generation of products may use DDR but the costs for the memory in such low volumes will move many manufacturers to Rambus," he noted.
He added that most of the server market will follow and adopt the devices that are used in main memory, rather than use a niche market product, because the volume is not sufficient to maintain a cost advantage.
Compaq Computer has already signed to use Rambus in its servers and workstations using the Alpha processor, Toprani said. He expects after the first generation of products IBM and SGI will move to Rambus as well.
But others point out that since DDR is a less radical design step than Rambus, it will prove easier to produce. "I've always liked DDR because it's an evolutionary step, and I think it can go into manufacture a little quicker than direct RDRAM," said Sherry Garber, vice president of Semico Research, Phoenix. But don't count Rambus out of the workstation/server market, she cautioned: "I'm sure Intel will do everything in its power to get Rambus in there."
"Quite a number of big users of DRAM will use DDR for workstations and servers," said Jan du Dreez, vice president of memory products for Siemens Semiconductor, Cupertino, Calif. Like many large memory manufacturers, Siemens has plans to build both types of memory, he said.
Rambus may have a lock on the desktop PC market, but "from a non-Wintel platform perspective, it is clear there is a market demand for DDR ," said Stephen Marlow, vice president of memory operations for Toshiba America Electronic Components's Semiconductor group, Irvine, Calif. "Will Rambus be limited to the PC? I don't believe so, but the volume for Rambus will be the PC space." "Of course, there will be Rambus out there, but we are saying with these DDR announcements that Rambus is not your only choice, and that there are other things out there that are good and bring a different value," said Hitachi's Sogas.
"We see there are applications that are better suited for each technology, so we are required to have each technology in our roadmap," said Avo Kanadjian, vice president of memory marketing for Samsung Semiconductor, San Jose. "Much of it has to do with what price/performance requirements each systems has, or if a company is more comfortable with using RIMMS (Rambus memory modules) or a traditional technology."
However, Jim Handy, principle analyst at market research firm Dataquest, said most of the workstation/server vendors will only utilize DDR memory when they can afford a higher priced DRAM. He noted that because DDR will have a smaller market, it will command a higher price. Handy expects the sockets that are not filled with Rambus to be filled with DDR memory.
DDR has become the most active of the alternative memory technologies to Rambus. Synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM) has lagged in both OEM support and product rollout (EN, Oct. 26). Although virtual channel memory (VCM) holds some promise for the low-end of the PC market, it still has many trials remaining before establishing itself.
While Rambus is counting on the cost of its parts being driven lower by high volumes, DDR also has some cost advantages. It doesn't require a unique process or special controller hardware, and it plugs into standard modules. It also doesn't require the additional transistors needed by Rambus, saving die space. Standard test equipment is adequate for DDR , as well.
-- Additional reporting by Robert Ristelhueber.
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