June 2008

The legal issues between Rambus and the DRAM manufacturers continues to move through the US court systems. Rambus won a patent infringement lawsuit three months ago against Hynix for the sale of Jedec-standard DRAM.  While Hynix is the first DRAM manufacturer to be addressed, Rambus is also pursuing patent infringement claims against most of the remaining DRAM manufacturers. Yesterday Rambus requested a court-mandated license from Hynix for past shipments of Jedec-standard DRAM sold from 2001 to 2007 and permanent injunction to stop Hynix from shipping DRAM into the US during the appeal process of the patent-infringement verdict.

Even if the courts decide to deny or delay this injunction requested by Rambus, the possibility of other disruptions to the US supply of Jedec-standard DRAM still looms on the horizon as other DRAM manufacturers take their turn in the box. 

The holy grail in wireless ICs is a cost-effective one chip solution.  The challenge has been the integration of all digital and analog functions, including RF, on a single SoC.  To date, this has only been accomplished for relatively low-power, short-range networks.  As the range increases, the amount of transmission power required also increases, requiring separate RF power components (Power Amplifiers, RF Switches and RF Filters).  This determines the level of integration that can be achieved.  Today, most wireless solutions utilize separate RF components to provide the transmission power required.  But things are changing. 

Over the next five years, unit shipments for wireless semiconductors for PANs, LANs and WANs will increase at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of more than 20%, much higher than the CAGR for total semiconductor shipments.  According to Semico Research Corp. there will be key segments such as WiMAX that will experience over 90% CAGR.  That growth prospect is attracting new players who are hoping to get a piece of the action with innovative solutions.  These players include large, established manufacturers as well as small, startups. 

An Amicus Brief was filed by three major OEMs this week in the ongoing legal activities between Rambus and the memory manufacturers.  What would concern these OEM about events that occurred almost 10 years ago?

Semico has neither the legal expertise nor the desire to comment on these ongoing cases.  However some aspects of the settlements could come to a conclusion by the end of this year.  We can comment on the potential impact on the memory supply and demand equilibrium.

Legal issues related to this long-running conflict have occasionally burst into flame and then died down in the intervening years.  Most importantly, no clear path to resolution has yet been suggested that would not place a considerable burden on some of the participating parties. One possible outcome is some level of restriction against unlicensed memory manufacturers shipping JEDEC-standard DDR memory products within the US.  Another is penalties against unlicensed memory manufacturers who had shipped JEDEC -standard SDRAM and DDR memory into the US in the past.