FlexIO™ Processor Bus

The Industry's Fastest Processor Bus Solution

The Rambus FlexIO™ processor bus represents a significant breakthrough in logic chip-to-chip interface technology. Offering data rates of 400Mbps to 8.0Gbps, FlexIO interfaces run up to ten times faster than today's best-of-class processor busses, while reducing overall package, board, and system costs. Optimized for intra-board environments, FlexIO interfaces provide an ideal low-latency and low-power solution for high-volume, low-cost applications, including processor, chipset and network chip connections for a broad range of applications. Rambus' FlexIO technology can be backward compatible with existing LVDS-based standards, including HyperTransport™, SPI-4 and RapidIO, allowing easy integration into next-generation products, while providing a path to higher levels of performance. FlexIO interfaces provide a complete physical layer solution for both standards-based and proprietary applications.

Flexibility, Performance and Savings

In addition to breakthrough bandwidth, the FlexIO processor bus provides flexibility, simplicity and savings in system design through key Rambus innovations including:

• FlexPhase™ circuit technology is a major departure from traditional circuit technologies. It enables precise, per bit, on-chip alignment of data and clock, eliminating the need for PCB trace length matching and PCB timing constraints. This results in simpler, more compact, lower cost logic systems capable of multi-Gbps data rates.
• DRSL (Differential Rambus Signaling Level) with LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) enables backward compatibility and performance at lower power. DRSL is a differential signaling technology available in bi-directional and uni-directional versions that offers a high-performance, low-power, cost-effective solution for transmitting data on and off chip. DRSL uses a variable signal swing as low as 200 mV, enabling low-power operation, reduced electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) and scalability for lower process voltages in the future. LVDS support enables backward compatibility to industry standards such as HyperTransport, RapidIO, SPI-4, and other varieties of LVDS signaling.
• Variable Data Rate (VDR) delivers data rates of 1-to-10 times the speed of the clock, supporting a wide range of system clocks and data rates ranging from 400Mbps to 8Gbps.