want to know what is happening here.? the following is a rambus press release from past summer. everything outlined here is full on track, full speed ahead and dozens of other companies have signed up since this release. and samsung and others have announced even faster rdram.
Rambus Inc., Intel Corp., Toshiba Corp. and LG Semicon Co., Ltd. today
announced that Intel has begun system testing of functional Direct Rambus™
DRAM devices. The Toshiba 64/72-megabit devices completed functional
tests including pipelined read/write operations at speed -- 800 MHz or 1.6
gigabytes per second --, initialization procedures and power management
operations. LG Semicon 64/72-megabit Direct RDRAMs™ are completing
engineering testing at Rambus and LG Semicon.
Also today, Dell Computer Corporation and Compaq Computer Corporation
confirmed their intention to ship PCs using Direct Rambus technology for
main memory in 1999.
"Rambus has been working with their DRAM licensees to assure that Direct
RDRAMs will be widely sourced in a timely manner," said Jim Handy,
director and principal analyst of Dataquest's Memories Worldwide Service.
"It is key to the PC industry's acceptance of Direct Rambus technology that
they have achieved this important milestone on time."
"It is exciting to see the first Direct RDRAM silicon," said Peter MacWilliams,
Intel fellow and director of platform architecture for Intel Architecture Labs.
"We expect to see several more vendors delivering Direct RDRAM silicon in
the next quarter, and we believe the industry is still on track to ship Direct
RDRAM memory technology in PC platforms in 1999."
This milestone is on track with the technology development program
disclosed in December 1996 that Intel platforms will use Direct Rambus
memory starting in 1999. In February, Rambus completed the Direct
RDRAM interface design and distributed it simultaneously to all of the
company's DRAM licensees.
"The speed with which Toshiba and LG Semicon were able to produce
working first silicon on this device underscores the important role Rambus
plays as a central design house," said Stephen Cullen, analyst at In-Stat.
"The compatibility of the interface and testing procedures will ensure the PC
industry benefits from a broad source of compatible DRAMs."
Leading PC OEMs Confirm Support
"The Direct Rambus program represents the primary technological thrust for
system memory in 1999," said Jay Bell, vice president and senior fellow at
Dell Computer Corporation. "We also support the Direct RDRAM because
memory compatibility is a critical customer issue that Rambus technology is
addressing. The decision to make Direct RDRAMs compatible by design
gives us and after-market customers the ability to swap memory modules
from different manufacturers without problems."
"As the leader in delivering the latest technology to consumers, Compaq
supports the system-level design approach taken by Intel and Rambus," said
Mike Rubin, director of Presario Desktop Division, Compaq Computer
Corporation. "It allows us to provide our customers systems with scalable
performance and it will save system-design cost and time."
Designed for high volume applications, Direct RDRAM devices use
conventional DRAM cores, silicon fabrication techniques and memory
modules. Direct Rambus memory modules, called RIMM™ modules, use
standard industry assemblies similar to those of today's dual in-line memory
modules. For PC main memory, a Direct Rambus memory system will fit
within the same physical, power and thermal profiles of a similarly configured
100-MHz synchronous DRAM memory system.
Direct Rambus technology will enable the DRAM industry's highest level of
performance to date -- 1.6 gigabytes per second of peak bandwidth from a
single device -- and will span multiple generations of DRAM devices (through
1-gigabit densities). A single Direct RDRAM device supports four pipelined
transactions to sustain up to 95% effective bandwidth. Developed in
conjunction with Intel Corp. and in cooperation with DRAM and other
semiconductor partners, the Direct Rambus interface achieves its
unprecedented performance through electrical and architectural extensions to
currently available Rambus technology.
In addition to offering the highest-performance of any memory-interface
technology, Direct Rambus is the only high-bandwidth memory interface with
broad industry support. Currently, over 50 companies are committed to
delivering Direct Rambus technology within their products; including 15
DRAM manufacturers (supplying more than 96% of the worldwide DRAM
market); 20 logic IC suppliers, including Intel Corp.; and 25 companies
representing the leaders in system-memory implementation products
(including memory modules, connectors, clock chips and test systems.)
Smooth Transition on Track
"We're proud of the speed with which we integrated the Direct Rambus
interface and our DRAM core," said Kouichi Suzuki, vice president of
Toshiba Corporation and group executive of the company's Semiconductor
Group. "Based on our process roadmap and up front technology investments,
we're confident we can ramp production to meet the industry's needs in
1999."
"This is yet another example of how we're responding to our PC customers'
requirements with leading edge technology," said Bob Brown, president and
CEO of Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.
Toshiba is one of the first Rambus RDRAM licensees, and the first licensee
based in Japan.
"We expect Direct RDRAMs to be the highest volume next generation DRAM
technology," stated B. J. Koo, president of LG Semicon. "Our strategy is to
align our fab production according to the industry's product ramp. This year
we have already shipped over one million concurrent RDRAMs and foresee
no issues ramping Direct RDRAM production."
LG Semicon was the first Korean company to license Rambus technology.
"While Direct Rambus DRAMs are targeted for mainstream system memory
applications," said Geoff Tate, president and CEO of Rambus Inc., "they are,
in addition, a natural fit for computer multimedia and graphics systems, and
single-DRAM consumer products through multiple-gigabyte enterprise
computing systems. All of these market segments will benefit from widely
sourced Direct RDRAMs which are the result of the design, support and
enabling services provided by Rambus."
Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS), based in Mountain View, Calif., develops
and licenses high-speed chip-to-chip communications technology that
enables semiconductor memory devices to keep pace with faster
generations of processors and controllers. Providers of Rambus-based
integrated circuits include the world's leading DRAM, ASIC and PC controller
manufacturers. Currently, eight of the world's top 10 semiconductor
companies license Rambus technology and seven of the world's top PC
makers ship systems using the technology. More information on Rambus Inc.
and its high-bandwidth interface technology is available at
rambus.com.
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) is the Nort |
