Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Ibexx who wrote (2917)	2/3/1998 8:23:00 PM
From: Guy Peter Cordaro	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 93625

LG Semicon preps 64-Mbit Rambus DRAM By By David Lammers (With additional reporting by Anthony Cataldo) SEOUL, South Korea -- LG Semicon Co. is turning up the heat in the Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) market in a bid to establish an early lead. The move comes as the U.S. marketplace in general and Intel Corp. in particular show signs of pulling back on a broad rollout of Rambus technology for PC main memory. LG Semicon expects to begin mass-production of a 64-Mbit concurrent Rambus DRAM in the second quarter, supplying the computer-graphics and digital-TV markets. Sampling started late last year. This summer-perhaps as early as June or July-LG will supply engineering samples of Direct Rambus memory to personal-computer makers, which are expected to use Direct RDRAM as main memory in high-end, Intel-based systems as early as 1999. "We believe we are the first company to supply the 64-Mbit concurrent version, and we may also be the first with Direct Rambus samples," said D.W. Choi, director of LG Semicon's DRAM division. "We have a lot of expectations for our Rambus business," said Choi. "We have the 0.25-micron capacity needed and will move to a 0.2-micron process in 1999 and 2000." He said that LG is developing Direct RDRAMs simultaneously with double-data-rate synchronous DRAMs (DDR SDRAMs) but that the company believes its "competitive advantage lies more in the Rambus field." LG is making about 100,000 to 200,000 concurrent DRAMs a month now, but that may increase to 1 million a month when customers begin to sell the newer graphics systems. Amid questions over the cost of producing Direct Rambus DRAMs, Intel has amended its DRAM road map by proposing to allow PC OEMs the option of using either 133-MHz SDRAM for main memory or Direct Rambus for a future chip set. The company has been quietly circulating the new specification, known as P133L, to DRAM manufacturers for several weeks. Surprisingly, given Rambus's reputation for being a power hog, Choi said he believes the Direct Rambus parts will consume less power than high-frequency (100-MHz and higher) synchronous DRAMs. The 100- to 133-MHz DDR SDRAMs, which offer 200- to 266-MHz bandwidth by reading data from both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal, will be developed by the fourth quarter. NEC Corp. has said it also is aiming at a third-quarter introduction of engineering samples of its Direct Rambus 64-Mbit part. NEC has dominated the RDRAM market to date by virtue of its nearly sole-supply relationship with Nintendo Ltd., which uses the Rambus interface in its 64-bit game machine. (The Nintendo system uses the basic RDRAM, a two-bank design that lacks the prefetch logic in the concurrent part to improve first-access latency.) Choi said LG is trying to crack the Nintendo market as a second supplier. He said interest in concurrent DRAM-based graphics systems has picked up in Taiwan and among networking and switching-system vendors. Subodh Toprani, vice president of marketing at Rambus (Mountain View), said concurrent DRAMs have been designed in to graphics subsystems of high-end systems offered by Compaq Computer, Dell, Gateway, NEC and Hewlett-Packard. The market for concurrent 18-Mbit RDRAM appears to be broadening. At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. demonstrated a digital TV incorporating concurrent RDRAMs. Cirrus Logic offers a chip set for PC graphics that supports the 18-Mbit concurrent RDRAM, and at least one major personal-computer maker is expected to adopt the Cirrus/concurrent-RDRAM solution in a high-end motherboard. The 18-Mbit concurrent RDRAM has also been used in Chromatic Research's second-generation Mpact device, which LG Electronics and Toshiba Corp. manufacture under license. Choi said some volume orders for the newer Mpact board are in the pipeline from several computer vendors, though he declined to be more specific. Both the Cirrus and Chromatic offerings will work with the 64-Mbit concurrent DRAM. That device has four banks, as opposed to two for the 18-Mbit density; otherwise, the 64-Mbit part's specifications are the same as for the 18-Mbit design, including the 32 pin surface-horizontal-mount package (SHP). The 18- and 64-Mbit concurrent RDRAMs provide 600 Mbytes/second of bandwidth at a 300-MHz operating frequency. The concurrent parts have a by-8 configuration and run off 3.3 V. The by-16 and by-18 Direct Rambus parts are expected to deliver 1.6 Gbytes/s at 400 MHz, with eight to 16 banks. LG will offer either a 64-Mbit or 72-Mbit density Direct RDRAM initially. It plans to sample 32-Mbit or 36-Mbit parts for the graphics market in the fourth quarter. Though all of the major DRAM makers are expected to manufacture the Direct Rambus design for main memory, only three companies are expected to manufacture the 64-Mbit concurrent RDRAM. Other companies may obtain parts from those three manufacturers to fill out their product portfolios. For information, call (822) 3459-3827, or e-mail ksgd@lgsemicon.co.kr. ÿ Go to This Week's News

To: Ibexx who wrote (2917)	2/4/1998 10:44:00 AM
From: MulhollandDrive	Respond to of 93625

"not original thinkers"....Perhaps they should start reading SI (although it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of them do) bp