To: Ian Anderson who wrote (36620 ) 1/18/2000 6:53:00 PM From: Mihaela Respond to of 93625
Here are links to the patents referenced in the news release: Rambus Sues Hitachi for Patent Infringementbiz.yahoo.com ___________________________________________________________ US5915105: Integrated circuit I/O using a high performance bus interface Abstract: The present invention includes a memory subsystem comprising at least two semiconductor devices, including at least one memory device, connected to a bus, where the bus includes a plurality of bus lines for carrying substantially all address, data and control information needed by said memory devices, where the control information includes device-select information and the bus has substantially fewer bus lines than the number of bits in a single address, and the bus carries device-select information without the need for separate device-select lines connected directly to individual devices. The present invention also includes a protocol for master and slave devices to communicate on the bus and for registers in each device to differentiate each device and allow bus requests to be directed to a single or to all devices. The present invention includes modifications to prior-art devices to allow them to implement the new features of this invention. In a preferred implementation, 8 bus data lines and an AddressValid bus line carry address, data and control information for memory addresses up to 40 bits wide. patents.ibm.com ___________________________________________________________ US5953263: Synchronous memory device having a programmable register and method of controlling same Abstract: The present invention includes a memory subsystem comprising at least two semiconductor devices, including at least one memory device, connected to a bus, where the bus includes a plurality of bus lines for carrying substantially all address, data and control information needed by said memory devices, where the control information includes device-select information and the bus has substantially fewer bus lines than the number of bits in a single address, and the bus carries device-select information without the need for separate device-select lines connected directly to individual devices. The present invention also includes a protocol for master and slave devices to communicate on the bus and for registers in each device to differentiate each device and allow bus requests to be directed to a single or to all devices. The present invention includes modifications to prior-art devices to allow them to implement the new features of this invention. In a preferred implementation, 8 bus data lines and an AddressValid bus line carry address, data and control information for memory addresses up to 40 bits wide. patents.ibm.com ____________________________________________________________ US5954804: Synchronous memory device having an internal register Abstract: The present invention is directed to an integrated circuit device having at least one memory section including a plurality of memory cells. The device includes an internal register to store an identification value which identifies the device on a bus. The device further includes interface circuitry, coupled to the bus, to receive identification information and a read request. The interface circuitry includes a plurality of output drivers and comparison circuitry. The output drivers are coupled to the bus to output data on the bus in response to the read request. The data is output synchronously with respect to first and second external clock signals when the comparison circuitry determines the identification information corresponds to the identification value. patents.ibm.com ___________________________________________________________ US5995443: Synchronous memory device Abstract: The present invention includes a memory subsystem comprising at least two semiconductor devices, including at least one memory device, connected to a bus, where the bus includes a plurality of bus lines for carrying substantially all address, data and control information needed by said memory devices, where the control information includes device-select information and the bus has substantially fewer bus lines than the number of bits in a single address, and the bus carries device-select information without the need for separate device-select lines connected directly to individual devices. The present invention also includes a protocol for master and slave devices to communicate on the bus and for registers in each device to differentiate each device and allow bus requests to be directed to a single or to all devices. The present invention includes modifications to prior-art devices to allow them to implement the new features of this invention. In a preferred implementation, 8 bus data lines and an AddressValid bus line carry address, data and control information for memory addresses up to 40 bits wide. patents.ibm.com