Good news for Rambus and Intel, from the Rambus thread:
It will be interesting to see what else comes out of the Rambus Memory Solution Forum 2000.
Anybody attending?
dmf
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 29 2000 9:13 PM EST
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Feb 29, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Tessera's Widely-Used CSP Technology
Adopted by Rambus DRAM Manufacturers Tessera(R) Inc., the industry's leading provider and licensor of
chip-scale packaging (CSP) technology, today announced a new manufacturing process that will drastically reduce
the package assembly costs of Rambus(R) DRAMs and other integrated circuits.
Tessera is unveiling its CSP cost reduction roadmap at the Rambus Memory Solution Forum 2000, taking
place here March 1 and 2 at the Shin Yokohama Prince Hotel. Tessera's Zinger 4.0 process, a key element
of the roadmap, is now in production and available to Tessera licensees worldwide.
"The introduction of the Zinger 4.0 process is a key element in reducing the cost of assembling Rambus
DRAMs,"said Bruce McWilliams, president and CEO of Tessera. "Since Tessera's CSP technology is used
by RDRAM manufacturers, the new process and Tessera's future cost reduction efforts will continue to
help drive industry adoption of Rambus technology by further improving its affordability."
Tessera's widely-used CSP technology is Rambus' reference package for RDRAM(R) devices because it is a
high-performance, cost effective solution for high-speed data transfer between Rambus-compatible devices.
Rambus' high-speed interface technology has already been adopted by industry leading computer and
consumer companies, and the combination of Tessera's and Rambus' cost reduction efforts will help
accelerate and broaden worldwide adoption.
One particularly large market for Rambus technology is the consumer electronics market, dominated by
leading Japanese companies. Rambus DRAMs incorporating Tessera's CSP technology are used in the Sony
PlayStation(R)2 game console, and are expected to proliferate in other gaming platforms, digital TVs,
set-top boxes and other applications that require high bandwidth memory interfaces.
Tessera's new Zinger 4.0 process reduces the assembly costs of RDRAMs and other (mu)BGA packages by more
than 50 percent over existing processes. The new process achieves these savings through a variety of cost-cutting
measures, including more efficient use of the tab tape, the development of a new injection process, new automatic
equipment for tape conversion, and improved equipment utilization.
Combined, these actions reduce the amount of materials, length of time and number of steps needed for the
(mu)BGA assembly process.
"Tessera's high performance CSP technology helps meet the electrical performance required for the high
bandwidth of RDRAMs," said Dr. Frank Fox, vice president of the memory, Architecture, and Technology
Division at Rambus Inc. "Tessera's CSP cost reduction efforts will go a long way in helping to drive down the
cost and accelerate the adoption of Rambus technology."
Tessera recently announced the next step in its cost reduction roadmap -- next generation WAVE(TM) (Wide Area
Vertical Expansion) CSP technology. (Please see the WAVE release dated February 29.)
About Tessera Inc. Tessera is the leading developer and licensor of chip-scale packaging technology to the
semiconductor industry. The company's technology sets new standards in performance, reliability, size and cost,
and is ideal for high performance and space-constrained applications such as wireless handsets, PCs, game
consoles and other devices used to communicate and access the Internet.
Tessera's flagship CSP technology, the (mu)BGA package, has been adopted as the de facto standard for a number
of semiconductor applications.
Tessera currently licenses its advanced packaging technology to over 30 assembly and semiconductor companies,
including Amkor, ASE, AMD, ChipMOS, ChipPAC, EEMS, Hitachi, Hyundai, Infineon, Intel, IPAC, LG, Meicer,
Mitsui, Samsung, Sharp, Shinko, Sony, SPIL, ST Microelectronics, Texas Instruments and Toshiba. Tessera is
based in San Jose, Calif.
Additional information is available at www.tessera.com
. Note to Editors: Tessera, (mu)BGA and the Tessera logo are registered trademarks of Tessera, Inc. PlayStation
is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Inc. Rambus and RDRAM are registered trademarks of Rambus Inc.
All other brand and product names may be trademarks of their respective companies.
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