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Japan-based consortium aims to speed development of a semiconductor that com logic and memory-at a reasonable price. By RobS Pan
FLURRY OF press reports late last year exposed what appeared to be a conspiracy of Japanese semiconductor manufacturers to unseat Intel Corp. from its dominant position in the world market. The reality, however, is a collaborative effort called the PPRAM Consortium-open to any chipmaker in the world-based on a technology that in several years could solve many current data-processing problems.
At Kyushu University in the south of Japan, researchers have been working for several years on an approach called parallel processing random-access memory (PPRAM). PPRAM is a way to integrate-on a single LSI (large-scale integration) chip-three essential elements in a wide range of sophisticated devices: logic, memory, and communication. The device that results from this marriage of technologies is an applicationspecific standard product or ASSP.
Although the PPRAM project has a long way to go before leaping from the academic world to the production line, major semiconductor makers are taking it seriously. Although none of the major Japanese firms has invested significantly in PPRAM research, most have signed on to the PPRAM Consortium.
At Matsushita's Advanced LSI Technology Development Center, team leader Akira Matsuzawa is following progress closely. "Because it looks as if PPRAM will tie into [our] future business," he says, "Matsushita is now investigating examples of PPRAM applications...