South Korea's Samsung Electronics Ltd. says it has succeeded in developing the first 288M-bit Rambus DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chip.
The new chip, which Samsung said it produced using 0.17 micron technology, can hold twice as much data as the previous largest capacity Rambus DRAM chip. The data processing speed at each pin has also been improved to 800M bits per second (bps), said Samsung of the new devices.
Rambus DRAMs use interface technology developed by Rambus Inc. to speed the flow of data into and out of the memory chip. As processors get faster and central data buses also run at higher speeds, the speed of the memory interface is becoming increasingly important. The Rambus system is supported by Intel Corp., which launched a chip set supporting the system in November at Fall Comdex [See "Intel to Launch Delayed 820 Chip Set," Nov. 5, 1999].
Using 16 of the chips, the company also said it has produced a 576M-byte DIMM (direct inline memory module).
Samsung Electronics, in Seoul, can be found online at http://www.samsungelectronics.com .