Rambus FlexIO processor bus and XDR memory technologies to be integrated into future Cell Broadband Engine processor-based products
Los Altos, California, United States – 03/17/2006
Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed chip interfaces today announced it has signed a technology license agreement with IBM®. This agreement allows IBM to build Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE) processors and companion chips using Rambus’ FlexIO™ processor bus and XDR™ memory interface technologies. Rambus’ high-speed FlexIO and XDR interfaces in combination with IBM’s advanced process technology will enable Cell BE system customers to maximize the performance of high-volume consumer products, servers and high-performance computing systems.
“This agreement with Rambus is part of IBM’s continued focus on our Cell BE-based chipsets in support of our goal of developing an array of leading edge computing products based on the revolutionary Cell BE architecture,” said Kevin Carswell, vice president of worldwide delivery for IBM Engineering and Technology Services, Technology Collaboration Solutions.
The Cell BE processor, jointly developed by IBM, Toshiba and Sony Group, is a breakthrough architectural design featuring eight synergistic processing elements plus a Power Architecture-based core that provides unmatched performance levels in many computationally intense applications. The Cell BE processor has peak performance in excess of 200 GFLOPS – which equates to 200 billion floating-point operations per second – as measured during initial hardware testing.
“We are pleased to continue our relationship with IBM and its world class engineering team to provide high-bandwidth functionality to new applications enabled by the extraordinary processing power of the Cell BE processor,“ said Laura Stark, senior vice president of Platform Solutions at Rambus. “This agreement gives us a further opportunity to engage with IBM and bring our revolutionary products to the market.”
The Rambus XDR memory interface and FlexIO processor bus account for 90% of the Cell BE processor signal pins, providing an unprecedented aggregate processor I/O bandwidth of approximately 100 gigabytes-per-second. The Rambus XDR memory interface connecting to XDR DRAMs achieves data rates of 3.2GHz to 8.0GHz. FlexIO processor buses, formerly codenamed Redwood, are capable of running up to 8.0GHz data rates, providing bandwidth more than four times faster than best-of-class processor buses available today. All Rambus high-speed interfaces are developed as complete solutions for high-volume, low-cost systems.
About Rambus Inc.
Rambus is one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies specializing in the invention and design of high-speed chip interfaces. Since its founding in 1990, the company’s patented innovations, breakthrough technologies and renowned integration expertise have helped industry-leading chip and system companies bring superior products to market. Rambus’ technology and products solve customers’ most complex chip and system-level interface challenges enabling unprecedented performance in computing, communications and consumer electronics applications. Rambus licenses both its world-class patent portfolio as well as its family of leadership and industry-standard interface products. Headquartered in Los Altos, California, Rambus has regional offices in North Carolina, India, Germany, Japan and Taiwan. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.
FlexIO and XDR are trademarks and 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. IBM and Power Architecture is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. Cell Broadband Engine is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. See http://www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.