Toshiba Selects Rambus Yellowstone Interface. RDRAM to Struggle Further?

[11/06/2002 09:42 PM]
by Anton Shilov

Toshiba has signed a licensing agreement to incorporate Rambus' Yellowstone technology into Toshiba's high-value added DRAM products for use in next generation, high performance systems.

Yellowstone offers a quantum leap in performance in memory signalling while lowering system cost through pin-count reduction and support for low-cost, high-volume PCBs and packages. The flexible architecture enables customised memory solutions to satisfy various market needs over the next decade, including digital consumer, networking, and graphics applications.

Rambus RaSer cells are offered as an analogue core library cell for ASIC and ASSP designs. The Rambus RaSer technology is optimised to meet today's and future network and I/O communication requirements. Rambus is continuing to develop higher-speed serial channels, which can be integrated in low-cost, CMOS processes. RaSer cells are available in single-, dual- and quad-channel configurations, across a range of speeds (1 to 10Gbps). Rambus currently has 14 licensees for its RaSer technology, including Intel, Internet Machines, Banderacom and TranSwitch.

I can hardly imagine that Intel will utilise RDRAM memory sometimes in future. Furthermore, a lot of manufacturers and developers of communicational devices now turn to different kinds of memory, therefore, cease to use Rambus developed DRAM. As a result, RDRAM continues to loose its market share and there are no chances for them to improve its state on the personal computer field. Fortunately for Rambus, Toshiba manufactured RDRAM memory for Sony who use this type of memory in their PlayStation2 consoles. These days Sony works on the successor of the most-successful game-console of all times and it is very likely that again RDRAM will be utilised there. At least, the official statement alludes this: “By incorporating Yellowstone into their advanced DRAM designs, Toshiba can enhance the performance of the next-generation digital consumer products.”

It seems that Rambus developed memory will struggle for another five or seven years in this world.