Rambus is working with Spansion to develop a flash replacement for the DDR-2 DRAM used in wireless handsets.

“Rambus is giving us technical help," Bertrand Cambou, CEO of Spansion, told EW, “it’s not a licensing deal, it’s a co-operation sort of deal.”

With DDR-2 at 300MHz, moving to 400MHz, it’s very much a high performance technology which Rambus is helping to development.

How can Spansion get flash cheap enough to compete with DRAM? “Easy," replied Cambou, “because our memory is 2 bit-per-cell. So it will be 30 per cent cheaper than DRAM and low power.

“Rambus," added Cambou, “is trying to change its image.” Seen as a company which is inclined to sue its potential customers, Rambus is now engaging with potential customers in a co-operative way to co-develop technology they need.

So Rambus technologists are working with Spansion’s top flash guru, Carla Golla, to develop the DDR-2 replacement part.

“Our desire is to work collaboratively with partners at an early stage of technology development, and help those partners use the technology in their products,” said Sharon Holt, senior vice president for worldwide sales, licensing and marketing at Rambus. 

"It’s part of being able to have open collaboration without IP contamination,” said Holt.