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

To: Dave B who wrote (18998)	4/22/1999 3:16:00 PM
From: TigerPaw	Respond to of 93625

sine-wave-like signal on the data lines I only know this from a slide-presentation level so I can't describe the actual protocol. The Rambus signal uses differential voltage levels between two wires, this is what I meant by a radio signal as the voltage can be slightly adjusted between the wires without causing a large electron flow. The transistors which control these voltages levels are always ON, they are just at the high or low level of their amplification and not on/off, this means they don't have the charge time to get to operational levels. The two wires are actually four because there are two sets of signals. One contains the protocol and the other contains clocking information. The Rambus interface is just a loop going from the processor, through the RIMM modules, and back to the processor (it is unterminated). For a Read operation, the processor would mark the start of the protocol, encode on the line a read write signal, and encode the address of the intended data. The RAM logic on the chip can start decoding this address bit by bit as it arrives and begin charging up the appropriate parts of the chipset. Once the address has all been sent the processor transmits kind of a steady pattern. The RIMM module is charged up by now and it begins modulating the data bit by bit onto this steady pattern. Since the line is in a loop, the processor will receive the address inforamtion that it sent and then begin receiving the data that was modulated by the RIMM module. It's all on the same line - Starts at the processor (xmit), goes through the RIMM, and back to the processor(receive). A write operation is similar except that the processor transmits the address and the data and the RIMM just stores the data once recieived. (The processor still receives it's own packet but ignores it). TP (It can and does get more complicated )