Elpida opens high-speed DRAM test lab at Munich Design Center

TOKYO, JAPAN & MUNICH, GERMANY: Elpida Memory Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of DRAM, recently held a ceremony in Munich, Germany to officially open its High Speed DRAM Test Laboratory at its Munich Design Center.

The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology, sent his greetings and respect and welcomed through a representative Elpida customers and officials from companies that will be affiliated with the design center's work. Representing Elpida were president and CEO Yukio Sakamoto, Chief Technology Officer Takao Adachi and Markus Balb, president of Elpida Memory Europe GmbH.

The Munich Design Center began operations in May as a graphics DRAM (GDDR) development facility and has been focusing on GDDR design work since then. However, with today's opening ceremony for the high-speed DRAM test laboratory, the Center now reaches full-scale operations.

The new test laboratory is equipped with high-speed memory testing and analytical equipment for use in planning and developing the features of new and next-generation products and supporting actual product design, development and evaluation. The Center will also conduct design and development activities that incorporate operational testing and analysis of actual systems.

In August of this year Elpida acquired GDDR3/GDDR5 design assets from the Germany company Qimonda AG. In December Elpida plans to begin sample shipments of GDDR3 products that have already been evaluated within the Munich Test laboratory of Elpida.

In addition, Elpida itself is developing a 2-gigabit GDDR5 that it plans to begin mass manufacturing in the second half of 2010. While business partnerships that will focus on post-GDDR5 next-generation graphics memory features are already being explored with GPU vendors, Elpida believes the highly advanced technology development capabilities of its Munich Design Center can play a central role in high-speed memory design and testing related to graphics memory.

With the operations of the Munich Design Center at full-scale, Elpida now intends to become a major player in the graphics memory market. The Center will help reaching that goal by hosting a range of business initiatives that will include working with Munich and Bavarian government authorities as well as with German universities and companies.