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

To: Don Green who wrote (56892)	10/6/2000 11:44:00 PM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

Intel reportedly validating Its Own DDR-Enabled Chipset Oct. 06, 2000 (Electronic Buyers News - CMP via COMTEX) -- In a move almost certain to raise a few eyebrows at Rambus Inc., Intel Corp. is validating its desktop-PC double-data-rate (DDR) chipset, the Almador, scheduled to be unveiled next year, according to memory companies currently supplying Intel. The Santa Clara, Calif., microprocessor Goliath is reportedly perfecting its desktop-DDR capability to support either an upgraded Pentium III or the projected mainstream desktop Pentium 4, code-named Northwood. Intel is keeping its options open for debuting its desktop-DDR chipset, depending on market conditions and how much competitive heat is felt from archrival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s DDR-enabled Athlon processors coming on the market later this fall. But in any case, the timing options are far in advance of 2003, the timetable permitted under Intel's licensing agreement with Mountain View, Calif.-based Rambus to introduce its own desktop-DDR chipset. Analysts and chip-industry executives say they have little idea how Intel might try to finesse its Rambus pact restrictions to unveil a DDR chipset as early as next year. Virtually all major DRAM producers and several module makers say they are shipping unbuffered DIMMs to Intel in large enough quantities to validate a DDR chipset. Memory-vendor executives who reported this development declined to be identified. Intel's purchase of unbuffered DDR desktop DIMMs is the tipoff that its new chipset is targeting mainstream PCs. A DDR chipset for servers, which the company has openly said it is developing, would use buffered DIMMs. An Intel spokeswoman declined to comment, saying that the company doesn't discuss unannounced products. Intel reportedly is using its Almador chipset to test and validate core-logic interfaces for DDR memory. Almador is slated to be unveiled possibly as early as the first quarter of 2001 to support the upgraded 1.3-GHz Pentium III, code-named Tualatin. Intel is developing Almador to support both single-data-rate (SDR) and DDR SDRAM, said Bert McComas, an analyst at InQuest Research Inc., Gilbert, Ariz. However, McComas added he believes Almador will initially be introduced in only an SDR version, with the DDR functions deactivated. "They're using Almador right now to test and verify DDR interfaces and core-logic controller timing functions," he said. "Intel then would have the DDR feature available in Almador should the company at some future time want to activate this function." McComas also believes a DDR Almador will appear if the Northwood Pentium 4 desktop processor is delayed beyond its planned third-quarter 2001 launch and Intel needs to fill a DDR competition gap. "If Northwood is introduced on schedule, only two quarters after Almador, then Intel won't want a DDR Pentium III version so close in performance, and the DDR functions of Almador won't be activated." A few Taiwan motherboard makers, however, have publicly announced they will use Almador DDR chipsets supporting the Pentium III in the first quarter of 2001. Iwill Corp. has distributed its road map showing boards in the first quarter with a DDR Almador. But Bob Merritt, a Semico Research Corp. analyst based in Redwood City, Calif., thinks the Taiwanese are jumping the gun. While Almador will have DDR capability, Merritt believes the first chipsets to hit the market will support only single-data-rate SDRAM. ebnonline.com

To: Don Green who wrote (56892)	10/7/2000 12:01:14 AM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 93625

Infineon Turns Tables on Rambus By Steven Fyffe, Electronic News Oct 06, 2000 --- Infineon Technologies AG is turning the tables on Rambus Inc. and accusing the litigious intellectual property (IP) house of violating its patents. Rambus is already in the process of suing Infineon in Germany and the U.S. for allegedly infringing its patents covering SDRAM and DDR memory technology. But Infineon has reportedly struck back at Rambus, hitting the Mountain View, Calif.-based IP house where it hurts with claims that Rambus’ proprietary RDRAM design is based on earlier patents from Infineon. Infineon claims it had pre-existing designs covering both SDRAM and direct Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), in a countersuit filed with the federal district court in Richmond. Va. today. Infineon, which spun off from German chipmaker Siemens AG in 1999, also alleges that Rambus illegally distributed Infineon’s IP by licensing RDRAM chip designs to third parties. Infineon executives in the U.S. were typically tight-lipped about the court case, issuing a terse no comment statement on behalf of the Munich, Germany-based memory maker. Analysts said Infineon’s attempt to beat Rambus at its own game was a dramatic turnaround of events. “It was definitely quite a revelation,” said Bob Merritt, director of emerging markets at Semico Research Corp. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some prior art in the other areas (of SDRAM and DDR), but if Infineon claims to have prior art that questions direct Rambus DRAM, that is kind of interesting.” Infineon’s surprise patent claims might also extend to the legal battles Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd. and Micron Technology Inc. are currently waging against Rambus in Europe and the U.S. But that still remains to be seen, Merritt said. “If this is from some public forum like JEDEC, it is equally accessible to all the DRAM manufacturers.” Both sides may be trying to capitalize on the technical complexity of the case, said Walt Lahti, vice president of market research at Integrated Circuit Engineering Corp. “My suspicion would be that there is some real confusion there about who owns what, and I guess going to court would resolve that confusion. It is escalating, and now everybody is looking at everything.” In a strange turn of events, Rambus said late today it had filed a motion to dismiss its pending U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) complaint against Hyundai, on the same day ITC officials came forward to say they were ready to go ahead with an investigation. The move was part of its effort to get the courts to consolidate its cases against Infineon and Hyundai in one place, Rambus said, in a statement. Rambus is filing a motion to move its pending litigation with Hyundai from the U.S. district court in San Jose to the U.S. district court for the Eastern District of Virginia where the Infineon case is now being heard. Rambus said it would still file suit against Hyundai for “alleged willful patent infringement” and would “seek injunctions to halt the sale, manufacture, and use of Hyundai SDRAM and DDR SDRAM memory devices that infringe the Rambus IP”.