Samsung's Window RAM Sets New Price/Performance Benchmark For PC Graphics

Revolutionary Dual-Ported Video Memory Architecture Being Second-Sourced by Micron Semiconductor, Inc.

SAN JOSE, Calif., November 15, 1993 -- In what is likely to be a boon for makers of PC graphics cards, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. today introduced a revolutionary video memory chip that establishes a new price/performance benchmark, offering significantly better performance than VRAMs at near-DRAM prices. Designed to boost the performance of Microsoft Windows and other graphical user interfaces, Samsung's Window RAM will make it more affordable to put larger, faster, more colorful displays on every user's desktop.

Samsung also announced that it has signed a second-sourcing agreement with Micron Semiconductor, Inc. to produce the WRAM, giving manufacturers greater confidence and flexibility in obtaining the product volumes they require. The agreement is the second one of its kind between the two companies within the past week (see "Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. and Micron Semiconductor, Inc. Announce Second Sourcing Agreement," November 8, 1993). At the same time, Samsung indicated that several leading graphics accelerator chip vendors are preparing controllers designed to operate with the Window RAM, making graphic board design simpler and more straightforward.

Designers of PC graphics cards are facing a dilemma: Users are demanding high-performance, high-resolution displays with more colors while PC graphics card manufacturers are trying to keep costs down to remain competitive in light of constantly narrowing profit margins. Until now, however, designers have had to choose between low-performance but affordable DRAM for their frame buffers or high-performance but costly VRAM. Samsung's Window RAM resolves this dilemma, providing the best of both worlds -- better-than-VRAM performance at near-DRAM prices.

"By trying to be all things to all people, the VRAM has gotten bloated with a bunch of little-used features that have driven up the cost while holding back performance," said Mark Ellsberry, Director of Marketing for Samsung's memory products. "Samsung has stripped out these unnecessary features and taken a fresh approach, creating an efficient dual-ported memory architecture optimized for use with window-based graphical environments."

According to Ellsberry, Samsung's Window RAM will enable manufacturers to offer graphics boards with three to five times the performance of the fastest products available today, but at an even lower cost.

"Samsung's WRAM has the potential to make high-performance PC graphics displays commonplace," said Gene Cloud, Micron Semiconductor's vice president of marketing. "As a leading U.S. producer of dynamic memories, Micron has the manufacturing facilities, technical know-how and the marketing resources needed to be a reliable source for this innovative product."

Single-Chip Frame Buffer

Samsung's Window RAM achieves its incredible price/performance advantage by implementing a complete 1024-by-1024-pixel by 8-plane frame buffer on a single chip. Internal 256-bit-wide data buses connect the 1-megabyte DRAM array, serial access memory and data latches, providing a high-bandwidth channel through which information can flow at up to 1.6-gigabytes per second. The result is extremely fast window drawing operations, fills at up to 1.6 gigabytes per second and aligned BitBLTs and fast scrolling at up to 640 megabytes per second.

The WRAM's unique mixed-mode operation helps achieve the highest performance possible by enabling the maximum of use of fast page mode. By defining most Window RAM functions on the falling edge of CAS instead of RAS, combined with the very large page size, the WRAM can be switched between read, write, transfer, block move and other functions while remaining in fast page mode. The page cycle time for both internal and external reads and writes is just 20 nanoseconds.

Samsung's Window RAM achieves a minimum 800 percent improvement over an equivalent size VRAM in monochrome to color text expansion through the use of dual color registers, one for foreground color and the other for background color.

Quadruple 256-bit-wide on-chip data latches allow background data transfers to take place within the Window RAM while data is being transferred out the serial access memory to be displayed or while the host port is being accessed. As a result, block moves, scrolling and other data movement operations can take place with no apparent delays because the next lines of data can be rearranged in memory while the current line is being transferred for display. This unique architecture also eliminates the need for large serial I/O registers -- the WRAM's are typically half the size of those found in the latest 4-megabit VRAMs -- significantly reducing the size of the chip.

Samsung's Window RAM can take advantage of the fast VL-Bus and PCI local bus expansion card interfaces now being offered in PCs. The 32-bit-wide host interface has a super-pipelined fast-page mode that operates at 20 nanoseconds, allowing data to be transferred between a CPU and the Window RAM at up to 200 megabytes per second. The result is extremely fast window save and restore operations.

Pricing and Availability

Samsung's Window RAM will be available in two versions. The KM4232C256 operates from a single 5-volt source, while the KM4232V256 requires only 3.3 volts. Both are packaged in 120-pin plastic quad flat packs.

Samples of Samsung's Window RAM will be available in February, 1994. In lots of 10,000 the KM4232C256 (5-V) and the KM4232V256 (3.3-V) will sell for $31.00 apiece.

Production volumes anticipated in October, 1994.

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