Cypress to Provide Programmable Clock Generator Timing Solutions For Rambus XDR Memory Systems

Leading Programmable Timing Solutions Support PC Graphics, Consumer Electronics and Networking Systems

LOS ALTOS, CA - July 23, 2003 - Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), a leading provider of chip-to-chip interface products and services, and Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: CY), a world leader in timing-technology solutions, today announced that Cypress will provide XDR clock generators (XCGs) to customers for use with next generation XDR memory systems. 

“In order to meet the demands of next-generation consumer electronics and networking systems, the complexity and requirements of high-speed clocking solutions has significantly increased,” said Daryl Chamberlin, senior product marketing manager of Cypress’s Timing Technology Division.  “Cypress’s long history of providing innovative programmable timing generators makes our flexible XCG the perfect compliment to Rambus’ XDR memory interface – combining the world’s fastest memory technology with the flexibility to meet critical time to market requirements.”

Cypress’s programmable clock generators, providing the necessary timing circuits to support XDR memory subsystems, will be available for sampling in Q4 2003. The clock generator incorporates four differential clock drivers in a 28-pin TSSOP device that reduces the overall memory subsystem chip count and allows for smaller printed circuit board area for PC graphics, consumer electronics and networking systems.

“Cypress continues to be a very valuable partner for us in bringing high-performance, high-value timing products to the marketplace,” said Rich Warmke, marketing director of the memory interface division at Rambus. “With Cypress on board, we will have another piece of the critical infrastructure support in place enabling engineers to begin designing XDR memory subsystems.”

The XDR memory interface provides a quantum leap in performance in memory signaling while lowering system cost through pin-count reduction and support for low-cost, high-volume PCBs and packages. XDR memory is ideal for solving the challenging memory bandwidth issues in the computing, consumer and networking markets. It is eight times faster than today’s 400MHz DDR memory and is expected to achieve data rates of 3.2 to 6.4 GHz and beyond. XDR memory enables up to 100 GByte/s of memory system bandwidth over a 128-bit memory data bus. 

About Rambus Inc.
Rambus is a leading provider of chip-to-chip interface products and services.  The company’s breakthrough technology and engineering expertise have helped leading chip and system companies to solve their challenging I/O problems and bring industry-leading products to market.  Rambus’ interface solutions can be found in numerous computing, consumer electronic and networking products. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.

About Cypress
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: CY) is Connecting from Last Mile to First Mile™ with high-performance solutions for personal, network access, enterprise, metro switch, and core communications-system applications. Cypress Connects™ using wireless, wireline, digital and optical transmission standards, including USB, Fibre Channel, SONET/SDH, Gigabit Ethernet, and DWDM. Leveraging its process and system-level expertise, Cypress makes industry-leading physical layer devices, framers, and network search engines, along with a broad portfolio of high-bandwidth memories, timing technology solutions, and programmable microcontrollers. More information about Cypress is accessible online at www.cypress.com.