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Politics : RAMTRONIAN's Cache Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PZTee who wrote (5278)	4/23/1998 10:47:00 PM
From: gammaray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14464

Thanks Tom but the stock price is reminder enough. It says it all. I was just browsing the latest proxy. It appears that our beloved ceo has an option to exercise 246,250 shares within 60 days after 3-15-98. I'm not sure if that means they expire after May or not. The irony is the option price isn't much lower than the current market price. In 1995 management anticipated that the option price of $4.15 would be a steal in 1998. Well at least they had high hopes. Course, Dan's uncle George would take the 60 cents per share now and then look forward to the next round of incentives. After all he is a realist and everything is relative. Neil

To: PZTee who wrote (5278)	4/24/1998 11:41:00 AM
From: Jonas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14464

Hi Tom, All Re density curve... Here's what I think I know... Well ESDRAM is currently produced using a 0.35 process which is adequate for 16MB densities...At 64MB production equipment doesn't have to be changed but does require modifications in the production process.... At 256MB processes of 0.25 and lower are required...which means state-of-the-art equipment...another important issue which affects costs is wafer-size..and although this is still far out...Siemens I believe will be the first to transfer to 300mm...(Siemens I believe is also among the lowest-cost producers...although even they currently aren't making much if any $ on DRAM) So the fact that rmtr doesn't have its own production capacity is a big plus...they can leverage the manufacturing know-how at Siemens...while they concentrate on product development & sales...I'm saying this because some have viewed this as a -ve...similar case for FRAM... Here's what I know I don't know... What changes to production are required for 128MB (perhaps some new equipment? but not as much as for 256MB?) whether there are ESDRAM-design changes required... So if 128 MB is largely a question of equipment than the Siemens-deal should help accelerate introduction...I believe the 64MB ESDRAM was originally scheduled to be introduced around the time NEC plans to introduce the 128MB density... There are obviously applications that do very nicely with the densities that rmtr curently has to offer...they've had design wins and now have the working capital to serve the demand...so from that perspective I don't see a problem...when the DEC win was made it was also clear that ESDRAM would lag conventional DRAM density... In the Computer segment there are a variety of trade-offs that can be made...the most obvious is price-performance....so a 128MB DRAM module will obviously be cheaper to produce than two 64 MB DRAM modules... but there's still a performance discrepancy and there are probably apps which absolutely need the performance...which ones are these? My 'wishful thinking' is that as long as they are behind only one density generation (for a limited time until they catch up)it's O.K. also wonder if there's a relation between DRAM performance and DRAM requirements... Thought on Samsung/Alpha: ESDRAM doesn't have to be used...but in that case system performance and hence alpha differentiation in the marketplace would be lowered... so it wouldn't make sense to use other DRAM types - IMO that is

To: PZTee who wrote (5278)	4/30/1998 4:51:00 PM
From: Lou	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14464

Maybe this applies to Racom and Ramtron???? reposter ************************************************ First an insertion, though. [For the non-techs like myself the "digital" [4/27} attachment to this weeks Time has an easy to understand article about Smart Cards. Funny, a year ago I thought Smart Card and Fram were synonymous./Lou] ********************************************* And Racom's. RFID is Racom tech isn't it. [ Business \| US Market \| Industry \| IPO \| S&P \| International \| PRNews \| BizWire \| Finance Home ] Wednesday April 29, 5:07 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Atmel Corporation Atmel Introduces Low-Cost Secure Memory IC With Enhanced Security For Smart Cards SAN JOSE, Calif., April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML - news) announced today a second-generation integrated circuit (IC) security device for use in high-volume, low-cost smart card applications. This introduction was made at CardTech/SecurTech in Washington, DC today. The AT88SC1608 device provides a unique, patented mutual authentication scheme in addition to standard password recognition. It was developed as a collaborative effort between Atmel and Elva, S.A. These capabilities provide an affordable, high standard of security for issuers and users of smart cards. The reader and the card exchange an encrypted data stream, preventing the possibility of fraudulent readers or card attack -- thus providing the highest level of privacy in a secure memory device. This device will present a different authentication challenge and response each time the card is inserted into a reader. ''This second-generation chip provides a level of security for both the issuer and the card holder that formerly required an expensive microcontroller on the card,'' explained Jean-Pierre Benhammou, Atmel's marketing director for secure memories. ''With the introduction of the AT88SC1608, security is now affordable so many more customers will be able to utilize it,'' Benhammou added.The first-generation secure memory devices could only provide PIN or password recognition. The problem with this form ofprotection was that the reader could be tapped into and the PIN would be available. This is similiar to the way a cellular telephone is cloned while in use. The second-generation of protection, formerly only available with an expensive embedded microcontroller, provides mutual authentication challenges. ''With this device, it is now practical and affordable for smart cards to be used for drivers licenses, medical records, various forms of financial and loyalty cards as well as many forms of secure access where the card holder can not breach the security of the card and manipulate the data,'' Atmel's Benhammou concluded. ''The real security provided by the authentication protocol is well established in the secure transaction industry -- this is the first implementation in a secure memory application,'' said Cedric Colnot, President of Elva, S.A., of Paris, France. Colnot continued, ''Atmel is leading the way with this 2-way authentication scheme and this will be the gold standard for all secure memories of the future.'' The 16K AT88SC1608, now in volume production, offers eight 256-bit by 8-bit user zones. The IC uses a two-wire interface, and it operates from 2.7 volts to 5.5 volts. Pricing for the device in wafer form starts at $0.57 each in quantities of 100,000. The device meets the specifications of the ISO 7816-3 Synchronous Protocol and has ISO Compliant Packaging. The AT88SC1608 offers an endurance capability of 100,000 cycles with data retention of 100 years. The AT88SC1608 is a specialized EEPROM memory and is the latest in a series of a comprehensive range of smart card integrated circuits from Atmel. These include a family of secure memory chips, a range of contactless (RFID) devices, and high-performance secure microcontrollers with crypto-coprocessors. Together these devices cover the entire spectrum of smart card applications from simple data storage to high-security financial transactions. Headquartered in San Jose, California, with principal manufacturing facilities in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Rousset, France, Atmel designs, develops, manufactures, and markets on a worldwide basis semiconductors including nonvolatile and embedded memory, logic, analog and microcontroller products as well as system-level integration (SLI) solutions. Atmel product and financial information can be retrieved from its Fax-on-Demand service. In North America call 800-292-8635. Internationally from a fax phone, dial 408-441-0732. Requests may be sent via e-mail to literature@atmel.com or by visiting Atmel's website at www.atmel.com. NOTE: Terms and product names contained within are trademarks of Atmel Corporation. Patents pending, under license of Elva, S.A. SOURCE: Atmel Corporation More Quotes and News: Atmel Corp (Nasdaq:ATML - news) Related News Categories: computers, semiconductors Copyright ) 1998 PRNewswire. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PRNewswire content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of PRNewswire. PRNewswire shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. See our Important Disclaimers and Legal Information. Questions or Comments?