Rambus and Teradyne Raise the Bar on Performance of 10 Gbps Backplanes

April 6, 2004 - Teradyne, Inc. (NYS: TER), Connection Systems Division, the industry leader in high-performance connection systems, and Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), a leading developer of chip interface products and services, will publicly demonstrate a low-risk, 10 Gbps solution for designers of high-performance backplane systems seeking to improve data rates at DesignCon East 2004, April 6-7 in Boxborough, Mass. and April 8, at the Rambus Design Seminar in Waltham, Mass. This reference platform utilizes Teradyne's high-speed, high-density connectors, VHDM and VHDM-HSD, along with Rambus's advanced 10 Gbps serial link interface solution, RaSer X.

The platform, built upon existing and proven connectors and materials representative of field-deployed networking and storage system backplanes, achieves data rates of up to 10 Gbps per backplane differential trace.

"Manufacturing variations, dynamic humidity and temperature changes affect signal integrity at 10 Gbps," said Jean-Marc Patenaude, director of marketing for the Logic Interface Division at Rambus. "The combination of Teradyne backplane interconnect, coupled with Rambus's intelligent adaptive equalization technology is links a backplane at 10 Gbps error free and solves the real-world problems of widely varying channel characteristics."

Teradyne's VHDM connector platform is the de-facto industry standard for high-speed backplane applications, with measured system performance beyond 5 Gbps and billions of pins installed worldwide. Its modular design enables a mix of single-ended and differential signals within the same connector. The 8-row version of the VHDM connector provides 101 real signals per inch, and in its differential configuration (VHDM-HSD), the connector delivers cross talk as low as 2% (at 100 picoseconds). The Rambus RaSer X cell runs at up to 10 Gbps on a single connection and offers designers a low-cost, standard CMOS solution that extends bandwidth performance in backplanes without requiring drastic changes to existing equipment.

Network equipment that is deployed in the field could experience dramatic temperature swings from 0°C to 60°C and relative humidity ranging from 2% to 80%. This could result in the backplane channels behaving differently as the environment changes. The powerful equalizer integrated in the RaSer X cell continuously and automatically adapts to these environmental changes, ensuring integrity of the link. Moreover, the RaSer X cell is backward compatible with all common lower data rate backplane standards, providing a seamless upgrade path for system designers to quadruple the capacity of existing modular telecom, networking, blade server and storage systems.

"Using a standard backplane design (200 mil thick, FR-4, non-counterbored via with 26 inch trace lengths) and connectors that are widely in use in systems today, this reference platform mimics a real-world backplane environment," said Gautam Patel, signal integrity engineer for Teradyne Connection Systems. "Demonstrating and measuring performance in a typical system set-up enables Teradyne and Rambus to provide our customers with a proven starting point for their designs."

The reference demonstration will be shown in the Rambus booth at DesignCon East, April 6-7, at the Boxborough Holiday Inn, Boxborough, Mass., booth #211, and at the Rambus Design Seminar in Waltham, Mass. on April 8. For more information about Rambus Design Seminars, visit www.rambus.com/news/events/designseminars/.

About Teradyne Connection Systems

Teradyne Connection Systems (TCS), a division of Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE: TER), is the leader in high-performance connection systems, designing and manufacturing backplane systems, printed circuit boards and the industry's leading high-speed, high-density connectors. TCS helps OEMs solve system design challenges with integrated interconnect solutions for application in the networking, communications, storage, computer server, and medical equipment markets. For more information visit www.teradyne.com/tcs.

About Rambus

Rambus is one of the world's leading providers of advanced chip interface products and services. Since its founding in 1990, the company's innovations, breakthrough technologies and integration expertise have help industry-leading chip and system companies solve their most challenging and complex I/O problems and bring their products to market. Rambus interface solutions can be found in numerous computing, consumer, and communications products and applications. Rambus is headquartered in Los Altos, Calif., with regional offices in the United States, Taiwan and Japan. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.