QLogic incorporates Rambus PCI Express Digital Controller in 4G Fibre Channel ASICs

ASICs used in market leading SANblade host bus adapters

RAMBUS DEVELOPER FORUM – TOKYO, JAPAN – July 8, 2005 – Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed chip interfaces, today announced that QLogic Corporation (Nasdaq:QLGC), a storage area network (SAN) infrastructure company, has incorporated the Rambus PCI Express digital controller core in their line of Fibre Channel storage processor ASICs.  These ASICs are used in the popular QLogic SANblade line of Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), the year 2004 market share leader according to analyst firms Gartner, Dell’Oro and IDC.  

“We chose the Rambus PCI Express end point core, because it was the most advanced core available on the market,” said Amit Vashi, senior director product marketing for QLogic Corporation.  “Our engineers have given two thumbs up for the integration support that they received from the Rambus team.”

QLogic provides OEMs, resellers and system integrators with end-to-end SAN infrastructure solutions.  The company produces the controller chips, host bus adapters, fabric switches and management software that are the backbone of storage networks for most Global 2000 corporations.  QLogic serves customers with solutions based on all storage network technologies including SCSI, Internet SCSI (iSCSI), and Fibre Channel.

“The successful silicon implementation of our PCI Express digital controller is the result of Rambus’s rigorous design and verification processes and the extensive interoperability testing our team has performed with leading system platforms,” said Abhijit Sarid, group marketing manager for digital core products at Rambus.  “This achievement underscores Rambus’s dedication to deliver products with the highest level of compatibility and reliability to ensure seamless integration into our customers’ designs.”

Rambus PCI Express digital controllers are highly configurable cores, available in end point, root complex, switch port, and hybrid (root complex and end point) configurations. The architecture is tailored to optimize link utilization, latency, power consumption and silicon footprint. The verilog cores are delivered with a complete test environment, test cases and synthesis environment for maximum ease of integration.  

Rambus digital controllers are also available as part of a complete integrated PCI Express solution, which includes Rambus’s PCI Express PHY cells.  The Rambus PCI Express PHY cells are available on multiple foundry and captive processes at process nodes ranging from 180nm to 65nm.  Rambus’s PCI Express PHY cells are listed on the PCI-SIG Integrators List, having passed PCI-SIG compliance and interoperability testing by Rambus PHY cell customers and digital controller partners. The PCI-SIG is the special interest group that owns and manages PCI specifications as open industry standards.  Rambus has also demonstrated its Turbo PCI Express platform with serial links operating at 5.0Gbps and 6.25Gbps data rates to meet future PCI Express requirements.  For more information on Rambus’s broad PCI Express offering, visit www.rambus.com/products/pciexpress.

About Rambus Inc.
Rambus is one of the world's premier technology licensing companies specializing in the invention and design of high-speed chip interfaces.  Since its founding in 1990, the company's innovations, breakthrough technologies and integration expertise have helped industry-leading chip and system companies solve their most challenging and complex I/O problems and bring their products to market.  Rambus's interface solutions can be found in numerous computing, consumer, and communications products and applications. Rambus is headquartered in Los Altos, California, with regional offices in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Bangalore, India; Taipei, Taiwan; and Tokyo, Japan. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com

*PCI Express is a trademark of PCI-SIG;
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