Rambus, a developer of high-speed interfaces and memory technologies, on Monday announced its Mobile Memory Initiative. This development effort focuses on high-bandwidth, low-power memory technologies targeted at achieving data rates of 4.3GHz at best-in-class power efficiency.

“As consumer expectations grow for more media-rich applications on their mobile devices, new memory solutions will be needed to keep pace with the rapidly increasing bandwidth requirements. With the breakthrough technologies developed through the Mobile Memory Initiative, Rambus enables a broad range of advanced mobile applications that will enrich the lives of consumers worldwide,” said Martin Scott, senior vice president of research and technology development at Rambus.

At 4.30GHz clock-speed, a 32-bit memory device can provide 17.2GB/s peak bandwidth; provided that Rambus wants to make such devices extremely effective in terms of power consumption, the memory technology may find itself inside powerful mobile multimedia-oriented devices, such as portable video game consoles, smartphones and so on.

Rambus has combined its high-bandwidth expertise with power-efficient signaling technology to create key innovations for its Mobile Memory Initiative, such as:

• Very Low-Swing Differential Signaling - combines the robust signaling qualities of a differential architecture with innovative circuit techniques to greatly reduce active power consumption;
• FlexClocking™ Architecture - a clock-forwarded and clock-distributed topology, enables high-speed operation and a simplified DRAM interface;
• Advanced Power State Management - in conjunction with the FlexClocking architecture, provides fast switching times between power-saving modes and delivers optimized power efficiency across a diverse range of usage profiles.

Building on innovations pioneered through the development of the award-winning XDR memory architecture, and through the Low-Power and Terabyte Bandwidth Initiatives, Rambus’ Mobile Memory Initiative also incorporates key innovations such as FlexPhase and Microthreading technology.

Rambus will demonstrate a silicon test vehicle for its Mobile Memory Initiative at DesignCon 2009.

Tags: Rambus