Toshiba Unveils Serial Link Cell Agreement With Rambus Targeting Backplane and Fibre Channel Applications

    SAN JOSE, Calif. and LOS ALTOS, Calif., March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba
 Corporation (Toshiba) and Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:   RMBS), a leading developer of
 chip interface products and services, today announced that Toshiba has signed
 an agreement with Rambus to incorporate Rambus's RaSer(TM) serial link cell
 technology into the Toshiba 90 nanometer (nm) process technology library.
     The cell technology operates at up to 6.25Gbps and offers a proven, full-
 featured and easy-to-integrate solution that addresses some of the toughest
 interconnect problems associated with the backplane.  In addition, the cell
 meets the Fibre Channel standard at 1, 2 and 4Gbps for storage area networking
 (SAN) applications.  This solution, coupled with the Toshiba advanced system-
 on-a-chip (SoC) technology, will enable next-generation SAN systems and
 backplane interconnects to achieve unprecedented bandwidth and network
 performance as well as density and die size at the lowest power.
     "This move is part of the Toshiba leadership strategy to make advanced
 technology available to customers who need leading-edge performance and/or the
 production economies of scale provided by our high-yield, high-volume 90nm
 process," said Tooru Masaoka, general manager of the Custom and Telecom. SoC
 Division at Toshiba Semiconductor Company.  "Rambus's RaSer serial link
 technology is a critical ingredient for our customers' successes in the SAN
 and data networking markets."  Toshiba has been shipping production quantities
 of its 90nm custom SoCs since the second quarter of 2003, considerably ahead
 of others.
     "Rambus is a recognized technology leader for high-speed interface
 solutions.  The company's proven, patented technology and the sizable,
 experienced implementation team behind the IP made it our clear choice for
 high-performance I/O for storage and communications applications," said
 Richard Tobias, vice president of the ASIC and Foundry Business Unit at
 Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.
     "Rambus has a long history of collaboration with Toshiba and we're pleased
 to extend our relationship into the logic interface arena.   Our advanced
 RaSer PHY serial link technology combined with the Toshiba world-class 90
 nanometer process provides our collective customers with a highly integrated
 solution for challenging backplane environments," said Kevin Donnelly, vice
 president for the Logic Interface Division at Rambus.  "The RaSer cell enables
 maximum system capacity under extreme space, power and cost constraints."
 
     The RaSer(TM) Family of Serial Link Cells
     The Rambus family of RaSer cells offers designers scalable serial link
 architectures that are optimized to address current and future serial link
 applications requiring the highest bandwidth and channel count on a single
 chip.  The RaSer serial link family can be employed across a variety of
 computing and communication applications, including modular switch backplanes,
 Gigabit and 10-Gigabit Ethernet, PCI Express, 1, 2 & 4Gbps Fibre Channel,
 fiber optic network interfaces and any other custom chip-to-chip applications.
 
     The Rambus RaSer family of serial link cells is offered as a library cell
 for ASIC and ASSP designs. A complete serial link solution, each RaSer cell
 contains serializer, transmitter, receiver, deserializer, clock multiplier and
 clock recovery circuitry. These cells are designed to meet the physical layer
 requirements for a wide range of serial link applications, each of which may
 have different logical requirements (protocol, framing, coding, etc.)  As a
 replacement to discrete serial link components, the RaSer family may be
 integrated with other communications functions in order to offer better
 integration and reduced component cost.
 
     Availability
     Toshiba expects to have working silicon based on this development in the
 third quarter of 2004 with volume production planned for 2005.
 
     About Rambus Inc.
     Rambus is one of the world's leading providers of advanced chip interface
 products and services.  Since its founding in 1990, the company's innovations,
 breakthrough technologies and integration expertise have helped industry-
 leading chip and system companies solve their most challenging and complex I/O
 problems and bring their products to market.  Rambus interface solutions can
 be found in numerous computing, consumer, and communications products and
 applications.  Rambus is headquartered in Los Altos, California with regional
 offices in the United States, Taiwan and Japan.  Additional information is
 available at www.rambus.com.
 
     About Toshiba Corporation
     Toshiba Corporation is a leader in the development and manufacture of
 electronic devices and components, information and communication systems,
 consumer products and power systems. The company's ability to integrate wide-
 ranging capabilities, from hardware to software and innovative services,
 assure its position as an innovator in diverse fields and many businesses. In
 semiconductors, Toshiba continues to promote its leadership in the fast
 growing system-on-chip market and to build on its world-class position in NAND
 flash memories, analog devices and discrete devices. Toshiba has approximately
 166,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over US$47 billion. Visit
 Toshiba's website at www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm.
 
     About TAEC
     Combining quality and flexibility with design engineering expertise, TAEC
 brings a breadth of advanced, next-generation technologies to its customers.
 This broad offering includes semiconductors, flash memory-based storage
 solutions, optical communication devices, displays and rechargeable batteries
 for the computing, wireless, networking, automotive and digital consumer
 markets.
     TAEC is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a
 subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, the fifth largest semiconductor company
 worldwide in terms of global sales for the year 2003 according to
 Gartner/Dataquest's Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share Ranking.  Toshiba is
 a world leader in high-technology products with more than 300 major
 subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide.  For additional company and product
 information, please visit TAEC's website at chips.toshiba.com.  For technical
 inquiries, please e-mail Tech.Questions@taec.toshiba.com.
 
     Editors Note: Reader inquiries please publish:
     Tech.Questions@taec.toshiba.com.
 
     Information in this press release, including product pricing and
 specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the
 date of the announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice.
 
     Rambus is a registered trademark of Rambus Inc. and RaSer is a trademark
 of Rambus Inc.  Other trademarks that may be mentioned in this release are the
 intellectual property of their respective owners.  All other trademarks and
 registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
 
 

SOURCE  Toshiba Corporation