Rambus technology aims to boost data transfer speeds

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By Douglas F. Gray

(IDG) -- Rambus said it has developed a new signalling technology that could boost the speed at which data can travel between chips inside a PC.

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Codenamed 'Yellowstone,' the technology has been under development at Rambus for two years, Dave Mooring, president of Rambus, said. By allowing data to be shuttled around more quickly inside a PC, Yellowstone is one technology that could help keep pace with the faster microprocessors coming to market each month.

Rambus wouldn't say when it expected the technology to find its way to market, but said it could be used to boost performance in desktop PCs, notebooks and servers, as well as mobile gadgets. It's likely to appear first in "consumer and communication" devices, Mooring said.

When it does appear, Yellowstone initially will support data transfer rates of 3.2GHz, although Rambus hopes eventually to push the technology to 6.4GHz, Mooring said. It uses a technology Rambus calls Octal Data Rate signalling (ODR), which can transfer eight bits of data per clock cycle, he said.

"Trends indicate that microprocessors will end up with memory interfaces right on them," he said. "Yellowstone could be the solution for high Level 3 cache."

Intel said recently that a key advantage of its 64-bit McKinley processor, which is due next year, is that it will use an on-chip Level 3 cache, something not available on Intel's current 64-bit processor, Itanium.