Joint Venture in China, Reliance Memory, to Develop RRAM

Rambus Inc. announced a joint venture in China, Reliance Memory, has been formed to commercialize Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) technology, with partner GigaDevice Semiconductor (Beijing) Inc., provider in China of non-volatile memory solutions and 32-bit microcontrollers, along with strategic investment partners THG Ventures, WestSummit Capital Management, Walden International and Zhisland Capital.

The new venture will bring next-generation memory technology to market for use in embedded devices.

“Rambus has invested in RRAM technology for several years, and this joint venture is a natural way of continuing to develop this technology for the embedded market,” said Dr. Ron Black, CEO, Rambus. “By working together, Rambus and GigaDevice will enable this joint venture to provide innovative memory solutions for the next wave of state-of-the-art mobile devices.”

RRAM is a form of non-volatile storage that works by changing the resistance of solid dielectric material. RRAM devices, also known as memristors, change resistance when different voltages are applied. They offer lower power than traditional embedded non-volatile storage, which makes it for IoT applications, where low power is critical.

“We pride ourselves on providing the widest range of non-volatile memory solutions available for our customers,” said Yiming Zhu, CEO, GigaDevice. “This strategic investment is aimed at delivering emerging memory solutions for our family of GD32 microcontrollers and other future embedded products in applications such as the IoT.”

“We are pleased to be the lead investor in forming this joint venture to explore the new era of memory technologies with Rambus and GigaDevice,” said Jun Xue, founding partner, THG Ventures. “Our strong track record in technology investments provides us with great confidence that new opportunities continue to develop with exciting technologies for the global market.”