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Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scumbria who wrote (45737)	6/22/2000 9:19:00 PM
From: sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

NEC builds 288-Mbit Rambus DRAM By Anthony Cataldo EE Times (06/22/00, 4:47 p.m. EST) TOKYO ? NEC Corp. has introduced what it claims is the first validated 288-Mbit Rambus DRAM, a development that may lead to much-needed price reductions for the high-speed memories. The company is using a 0.18-micron process technology to shave die size and increase yields in a bid to lower the cost of RDRAM. Intel Corp. is counting heavily on DRAM makers to reduce RDRAM prices so that it can quickly bring down the cost of PCs built with its next-generation Willamette processor. Scheduled for introduction later this year, Willamette will rely on RDRAMs to provide sufficient memory bandwidth for its quad-pumped processor bus. NEC's move comes as most RDRAM makers are still struggling to bring down the cost of making the parts relative to mainstream SDRAMs. However, even NEC is reluctant to say to what extent its latest cost savings will be passed on to buyers of the chips. NEC's 288-Mbit devices will carry a die overhead of less than 15 percent above a comparable SDRAM, said Misao Higuchi, senior manager of technical marketing for NEC's memory operations unit. That's better than the 20 percent die overhead for today's 128-Mbit devices, but it still falls short of the 10 percent die-area premium that Rambus and Intel had promised several years ago when the 16-bit-wide interface technology was introduced. The higher die overhead and faster signaling frequency of RDRAMs have conspired to keep manufacturing yields low, which has been a factor in RDRAM's high final cost. With a 288-Mbit RDRAM ready for production on its 0.18-micron process technology, NEC should be able to see yields pass 50 percent for the maximum, 800-MHz frequency, Higuchi said. "For the 800-MHz speed grade, we expect 50 percent at 0.18 micron and then between 70 percent and 80 percent when we move to 0.15 micron, by the end of this year or early next year," he said. Rising yields have emboldened Rambus to start thinking about upgrading the spec for higher speeds. At the recent 2000 VLSI Circuits Symposium, Rambus officials said they would soon announce a faster version of the spec as DRAM vendors shift to finer process technologies. They noted that leading DRAM vendor Samsung Electronics claims it can increase Direct Rambus to 850 MHz at 0.21-micron process technology, 910 MHz at 0.19 micron and 1 GHz at 0.17 micron. Low yields Because initial 0.18-micron processes had shown poor yields at most DRAM companies, NEC has until now produced its RDRAMs at in a 0.22-micron process, itself a shrink version of the company's 0.25-micron process technology, Higuchi said. At that process node, however, NEC has been restricted to making 128-Mbit parts with yields between 30 percent and 40 percent for the 800-MHz speed bin. Originally specified for 800 MHz, Rambus DRAMs now come in downgraded 600-MHz and 700-MHz speeds because memory makers have shown such poor yields at the 800-MHz frequency. NEC had planned to take another baby step, to 0.20 micron, but then decided to move straight to 0.18 micron for the new 288-Mbit RDRAM design once the company became comfortable with its 0.18-micron process, Higuchi said. With the new part, NEC will be able to introduce a "cut-down" RDRAM, essentially a 128-Mbit DRAM made by dividing the 288-Mbit mask design in half. The lower-cost, 128-Mbit device will likely be introduced when NEC switches to a 0.15-micron process, he said. The company will also likely introduce a 256-Mbit RDRAM in a by-16 configuration when it moves to 0.15 micron. Because the RDRAM address bus is fixed, a PC with a 64-bit-wide memory bus can use a standard Rambus-in-line memory module (RIMM) with four 256-Mbit RDRAMs instead of eight 128-Mbit devices. For now, however, NEC will focus on 288-Mbit parts with error correction, a feature required for the high-end systems the company is targeting in the early stages. Sampling now, the 288-Mbit device will move into volume production this month. Rambus Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.) recently gave the part the stamp of approval for meeting all RDRAM specifications, including timing, current, load capacitance and inductance. Higuchi declined to speculate on how much its cost-cutting measures might affect RDRAM pricing. OEM prices have been as much as three times higher than for SDRAM, while aftermarket modules are being priced at some 800 percent higher. eetimes.com

To: Scumbria who wrote (45737)	6/22/2000 10:33:00 PM
From: richard surckla	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

I have just been lurking all evening and enjoying myself listening to the foolish remarks of the (still) anti-Rambus. How nice it is to just sit back, count my money, and even contemplate a "Thank You" to those anti-Rambus AMDroids such as Bilow, Scumbria, Pluto, Ali Chen, Dan3, etc., etc. In fact I will say, "Thank You"... because the more you talked your BS the more I knew I was in the slot. Oh yes... Scumbria, >>Rambus now has lots of incentive to kill DRDRAM, and maximize profits with DDR.<< You really have to get rid of those bubbles in your think tank! They are really beginning to affect you!