Rambus to Demonstrate the World's Fastest Memory Device at Intel Developer Forum; New XDR DRAMs from Toshiba and Samsung Provide 8x the Bandwidth of Today's Main Memory
LOS ALTOS, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 13, 2004—
Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), a leading provider of
chip-to-chip interface products and services, today announced that it
will be showing the first public demonstration of Toshiba
Corporation's 512-megabit XDR(TM) DRAM. The demonstration will take
place in the Rambus booth (#502) at the 2004 Intel Developer Forum
(IDF) being held February 17 - 19, 2004 at the Moscone Center in San
Francisco. Samsung also plans to showcase its XDR DRAM for the first
time at the event. Running at 3.2GHz, XDR DRAM is the world's fastest
memory device, offering eight times the bandwidth of today's
best-in-class main memory.
"Last December, we broke new ground once again when we were first
to begin sampling the world's fastest memory," said Shozo Saito,
Technology Executive of Semiconductor Company at Toshiba Corporation.
"By combining our advanced expertise in trench capacitor cell
technology and high speed DRAM with Rambus's ingenious chip-to-chip
interface technology, we successfully developed this extraordinary
chip, capable of delivering unprecedented multi-gigahertz of data to
power future consumer and graphics devices."
"Providing our customers with XDR DRAMs will allow us to continue
supplying the market with high-quality memory products that provide
exceptional bandwidth capabilities," said Tom Quinn, vice president of
Samsung Semiconductor memory sales and marketing. "We look forward to
ramping XDR DRAM into high-volume production in 2004 and 2005."
XDR DRAMs are based on Rambus's XDR memory interface technology.
Three of the key innovations include:
-- Differential Rambus Signaling Level (DRSL) -- a bi-directional
differential signaling technology offering a high-performance,
low-power, and cost-effective solution for getting bandwidth
on and off chip;
-- Octal Data Rate (ODR) -- a technology that enables eight bits
of data to be transferred on each clock edge, four times as
many as today's state-of-the-art double data rate (DDR);
-- FlexPhase -- a circuit architecture that enables precise data
transfer and simplifies system designs.
"This first demonstration of XDR DRAM is a key milestone, bringing
us one step closer to providing XDR DRAM in high volume to the
market," said Laura Stark, vice president of the Memory Interface
Division at Rambus. "We are pleased that Toshiba and Samsung are in
the process of sampling XDR DRAMs and look forward to their ramp to
volume production later this year and into 2005."
XDR DRAMs are designed for high-performance broadband
applications, including digital consumer electronics, network systems
and graphic systems. These applications process data at very high
speeds in real time, and therefore require ultra high-speed memory
chips. Toshiba recently announced it is the first to begin sampling
its 512-megabit XDR DRAM. In addition to Toshiba, Rambus has licensed
its XDR memory interface technology to Elpida Memory, Inc. and Samsung
Electronics Co., Ltd. These manufacturers expect to ship XDR DRAM
later this year and ramp to volume production in 2005. Additional
information on XDR DRAM and the memory interface can be found at
www.rambus.com/xdr.
About Toshiba
Toshiba Corporation is a leader in the development and manufacture
of electronic devices and components, information and communication
systems, consumer products and power systems. The company's ability to
integrate wide-ranging capabilities, from hardware to software and
innovative services, assure its position as an innovator in diverse
fields and many businesses. In semiconductors, Toshiba continues to
promote its leadership in the fast growing system-on-chip market and
to build on its world-class position in NAND flash memories, analog
devices and discrete devices. Toshiba has approximately 166,000
employees worldwide and annual sales of over US$47 billion. Visit
Toshiba's website at www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm.
About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor,
telecommunication, and digital convergence technology. Samsung
Electronics employs approximately 75,000 people in 89 offices in 47
countries and business performance for 2002 record $49.6 billion in
sales and $5.9 billion in net income. Samsung Electronics is the
world's leading company of advanced semiconductors, TFT-LCDs, CDMA
mobile phones, monitors and VCRs. Samsung Electronics consists of four
main business units: Device Solution Network, Digital Media Network,
Telecommunication Network and Digital Appliance Network Businesses.
The Device Solution Network specializes in semiconductors, TFT-LCD
displays and data storage medium for industrial, mobile and advanced
computing applications, offering a full line of key solutions of
DRAMs, SRAMs, Display Driver ICs, Smart Card ICs, TFT-LCD panels and
Flash memories. The Device Solution Network operates overseas sales
subsidiaries and mass production facilities to maximize on hand
customer support. For more information, visit our website at
http://www.samsungsemi.com.
Samsung Semiconductor Inc., a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., is located in San Jose, Calif. More
information can be found at http://www.usa.samsungsemi.com/.
About Rambus Inc.
Rambus is one of the world's leading providers of chip-to-chip
interface products and services. The company's breakthrough technology
and engineering expertise have helped leading chip and system
companies to solve their challenging I/O problems and bring
industry-leading products to market. Rambus's interface solutions can
be found in numerous computing, consumer electronic and networking
products. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.
Rambus is a registered trademark of Rambus Inc. Other trademarks
that may be mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of
their respective owners.
This release contains forward-looking statements that are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include
statements about the adoption rate of XDR DRAM into and suitability
for the consumer, graphics, networking, PC main memory, server and
mobile markets, as well as the dates of when XDR DRAMs are expected to
ship into their respective markets and ramp into volume production.
Additional forward-looking statements include the ability of XDR DRAM
to provide cost benefits while still outperforming low-volume
specialty DRAMs. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected. Those risks include the possibility
of inadequate shipments of Rambus XDR memory devices and controllers
for the specified markets, the market response to these products, the
continued deterioration in the DRAM market, any delay in the
development of Rambus-based products by licensees, any delay in the
development and shipment of new Rambus products, any delay in the
development and shipment of products compatible with Rambus products,
a strong response of the market to competing technology, a failure to
sign new contracts or maintain existing contracts for XDR memory,
adverse litigation decisions and other factors that are described in
our SEC filings including our 10-K and 10-Qs.
Contact:
Rambus Inc.
Linda Ashmore, 650-947-5411
Public Relations
lashmore@rambus.com
or
Toshiba Corporation
Makoto Yasuda, +81-3-3457-2105
Corporate Communications Office
press@toshiba.co.jp
or
Edelman PR (for Samsung)
Tom McHale, 503-471-6819
tom.mchale@edelman.com
