JEDEC Announces New Area of Development in Standard Setting

Arlington, Va., April 13, 2007 - JEDEC, the leading developer of standards for the solid-state industry, today announced the creation of the JC-45.5 Module Interconnect Subcommittee.

The newly-formed subcommittee will develop electrical specifications for DIMM connectors and provide industry developers with important empirical data about electrical performance of the DIMM connectors in next generation memory subsystems. The subcommittee is part of the larger JC-45 DRAM Modules Committee that develops and publishes module electrical definitions for industry standard memory modules. Formation of the subcommittee is part of JEDEC's on-going effort to better define module interconnect performance.

JC-45.5 will collect connector empirical data through the use of committee-developed test fixtures to provide a common platform for connector simulations to be correlated. The collected data will be used to evaluate existing connectors, as well as developing new connectors, for future memory technologies. The collected data will also be used to develop DIMM connector electrical specifications.

Jim McGrath, Director of Strategic Products at Molex Corporation and Chairman of this new subcommittee stated, "We recognized the need for better, standardized and correlated information with memory system developers."

Task Group Chair, Joy Li, Signal Integrity Engineer at High Performance System Lab of HP, is coordinating the design of a JEDEC standard DIMM connector test board. Joy is also coordinating the publication of standard test procedure and collection of test data from task group participants.

"JC-45.5 provides a liaison between the JC-16 Committee on Interface Technology and the JC11.14 Subcommittee on Mechanical Package Outlines – Microelectronic Assemblies," commented Joy Li. "As the data rate goes higher, the DIMM connector becomes a significant part of the memory subsystem performance. We are targeting FB-DIMM and FB-DIMM2 as well as DDR3 needs for through hole, press fit and surface mount (SMT) connector terminations," she added.

"Surface mount DIMM connectors may be needed for the next generation of memory subsystems, yet, to date, this has not been proven for main stream servers. The work of this new subcommittee will help the industry define the challenges for future designs and will provide a valuable data point to better develop the memory eco system," remarked Belal Gharaibeh of HP, who is also a member of the JEDEC Board of Directors.

Testing will commence in April 2007 and results will be shared with members of the JC-45.5 task group in early May. In addition, an update will be presented at the JC-45 Committee Meeting the week of June 4-8, 2007, in Seattle.

Anyone wishing to participate in this effort must be JEDEC members. To join JEDEC, please visit www.jedec.org for details.

JEDEC is the leading developer of standards for the solid-state industry. Almost 3100 participants, appointed by some 290 companies work together in 50 JEDEC committees to meet the needs of every segment of the industry, manufacturers and consumers alike. The publications and standards that they generate are accepted throughout the world. All JEDEC standards are available online, at no charge.