Chipset Firms Support NEC's VCM Memory

Electronic News, Oct 5, 1998

All three chipset companies said they are currently developing and will soon supply new Socket-7 and Slot-1 PC chipsets that support NEC's Virtual Channel Synchronous DRAM (VC-SDRAM). Used with 133MHZ VC-SDRAMs, the new chipsets will allow PC OEMs to ship systems with memory bandwidth of over 1 gigabyte per second (GB/s).

Compared to today's PC systems, this enhancement offers a claimed one-and-a-half to two times increase in memory bandwidth. Product availability for the first chipsets is expected in 4Q98 and a live system demonstration built around these chipsets will be shown for the first time at the upcoming Comdex Fall '98 conference in Las Vegas (Nov. 16-20).

The chipsets will feature scalable front-side bus (FSB) speeds ranging from 66- to 133MHz and VC-SDRAM support up to 133MHz. In addition to supporting VC-SDRAMs, the chipsets will support PC-100/66 SDRAM and EDO memories. CPU support will include processors with programmable FSB speeds of 66- to 133MHz. All of the chipsets will feature full AGP support and some will have an integrated 3D graphics controller.

"With the VCM support of this elite group of chipset vendors, NEC is continuing efforts to make it the de facto memory core technology standard," said Bart Ladd, senior product marketing manager of the memory business unit at NEC.

Based on International Data Corp.'s (IDC's) PC estimates, ALi, SiS and VIA are dominant chipset providers in the value-PC segment, which currently accounts for 30 percent of all PCs shipped in 1998. It is estimated that collectively these three chipset vendors hold almost a 70 percent share of the value segment within the PC market.

In response to the need for higher bandwidth, NEC developed VCM by modifying the memory core instead of the external signaling of the memory device. VCM is said to decrease the time it takes to retrieve data from the memory by temporarily storing data in multiple channels between the input/output terminals and memory cells. This capability allows a memory chip to prepare other memory data requests in a separate channel while reading or writing current data. The result is increased effective bandwidth without changing existing interfacing schemes.

Samples of the 64Mb VC SDRAM are currently available in three organizations (x4, x8 and x16), and industry-standard memory modules. Volume production is expected to start in October 1998.

In November 1997 of last year NEC Electronics introduced VCM core technology in order, the company said, to address performance limitations in multitasking systems. Then, in June of this year, NEC introduced 64Mb VC-SDRAM. In July NEC and Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) announced co-development efforts on a memory controller that will support VCM. In August JEDEC approved VCM as industry standard, and last month Siemens announced it will act as a second source for NEC's VCM memories.

Chin-Lin Tsai, VP of Acer's systems products business division, commented, "With the addition of AGP, the demands on the memory system have dramatically increased. NEC's VC-SDRAM enables higher effective bandwidth, which allows PC OEMs more price-performance options."

"When VCM was introduced in 1997, we realized the benefits it offered. Now that JEDEC has approved the VCM specifications, SiS can support it as an industry-standard device." said Mr. Shing Wong, senior VP of Silicon Integrated Systems.

"Since VCM does not require any changes to memory interface or pinout," says Dean Hays, director of marketing at VIA Technologies, Inc., "VC-SDRAM enables a fast time-to-market solution for next-generation PCs that require high bandwidth."