PLX Technology and Rambus Announce PCI Express Collaboration, Licensing Agreement

PLX Interconnect Expertise, Proven Rambus I/O Technology Enable PCI Express-Based Systems to Reach Market Faster

SUNNYVALE and LOS ALTOS, CA - February 10, 2003 - PLX Technology (Nasdaq:PLXT, www.plxtech.com), a leading supplier of high-speed interconnect silicon and software to the communications industry, and Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS, www.rambus.com), a leading developer of chip-to-chip interface products and services, today announced a collaboration and licensing agreement for advanced PCI Express? input/output (I/O) technology. PLX will develop its recently announced PCI Express high-speed bridging and switching chips using Rambus' serial link technology. This collaboration provides system manufacturers faster time to market with the increased performance and functionality of PCI Express standard.

PLX has licensed Rambus' RaSer technology to enable high-speed 2.5 gigabits per second (Gbps), point-to-point, serial interface connections required for PCI Express products. PLX is developing a complete emulation and validation platform using the RaSer serial link technology and the recently announced PLX BulletTrain architecture (see announcement). This platform will ensure full compliance to the PCI Express standard and interoperability among PCI Express-based systems.

Through this extensive validation program, suppliers of server, storage and communication systems will be able to develop market-leading PCI Express-based systems in 2003. This collaboration also will allow the development of next-generation PCI Express standards in the 5-10Gbps range.

"We're excited to be working with Rambus on the development of this powerful I/O technology, which will enable the delivery of high-speed PCI Express-based solutions for our customers' next-generation computing and communication systems," said Mark Lipford, vice president of engineering at PLX. "PLX's BulletTrain-based PCI Express chips resulting from this collaboration will result in higher-performance server, storage, industrial control, and communication applications with substantially reduced interconnect cost."

The Rambus serial link interface's low power and small die size enables optimal PCI Express-based solutions. The Rambus PCI Express interface cell is based on Rambus' existing TSMC 0.13 micron Ethernet XAUI cell that has completed extensive characterization both by Rambus and its XAUI customers.

"The PCI Express IO interconnect standard provides significant performance, cost and scalability advantages as compared to traditional parallel PCI designs for next-generation computing and communication systems," said Kevin Donnelly, vice president of Rambus' logic interface division. "The Rambus and PLX collaboration will result in extensive compatibility and compliance testing of PCI Express-based products, allowing system customers faster time to market."

BulletTrain-based high-speed switching and bridging devices will enable central-processing and network-processing units, and input/output (I/O) devices to communicate through PCI Express Base and Advanced Switching backbones in the server, storage, industrial control, and communications markets. The modular, performance-optimized BulletTrain architecture will enable PLX to deliver a family of PCI Express devices intended for motherboard designs, chassis-based systems such as the new AdvancedTCA -compliant PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) 3.4 initiative, and the add-in cards and blades that are the foundation of these architectures.

About PLX Technology
PLX Technology, Inc. (www.plxtech.com), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., USA, is a leading supplier of high-speed interconnect silicon to the storage and communications industry. The PLX solution provides a competitive edge to our customers through an integrated combination of high-performance silicon, hardware and software design tools, and partnerships. These innovative solutions are designed to enable our customers to develop equipment with industry-leading performance, scalability and reliability. Furthermore, the combination of PLX product features and supporting infrastructure allow customers to bring their designs to market faster. PLX PCI I/O Accelerators, switched-PCI products, HyperTransport Tunnel-to-Dual PCI-X and PCI Express devices are designed into a wide variety of server, storage, industrial control, and communication applications.

About Rambus Inc.
Rambus is a leading provider of chip-to-chip interface products and services. The company's breakthrough technology and engineering expertise have helped leading chip and system companies to solve their challenging interface problems and bring industry-leading products to market. Rambus' interface solutions can be found in hundreds of computing, consumer electronic and networking products. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.

PLX and BulletTrain are trademarks of PLX Technology, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. Rambus is a registered trademark and RaSer is a trademark of Rambus Inc. All other product names that appear in this material are for identification purposes only and are acknowledged to be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.