MetaRAM is a fabless semiconductor company that develops new technologies to improve memory performance. MetaRAM is dedicated to creating innovative solutions that fit into existing IT infrastructure effortlessly while re-using off-the-shelf technologies wherever possible. The company was first funded in January 2006 and in February 2008 launched its first product – MetaSDRAM™ -- an innovative memory technology that enables four times the amount of standard memory to be placed into existing systems without any modifications.

History
MetaRAM was founded by former AMD CTO Fred Weber and former NVIDIA marketing director Suresh Rajan. Fred spent most of his career working on developing faster processors, but early on saw that memory was one of the main gating factors to system performance. Suresh had worked on advanced DRAM technology and had experience developing chipsets for the server market.  They came together around a simple vision – put more memory into servers and workstations.

January 2006: Fred Weber and Suresh Rajan secure initial funding.
May 2007: MetaRAM closes “B” round of funding.
July 2007: First working model of DDR2 MetaSDRAM technology successfully tested.
November 2007: DDR2 MetaSDRAM chipset in production.
April 2008: DDR3 MetaSDRAM chipset demonstrated at IDF Shanghai
August 2008: MetaRAM announces availability of DDR3 MetaSDRAM
August 2008: MetaRAM, Hynix and Intel demonstrate world’s first DDR3 16GB 2-Rank DIMM

Products
MetaRAM’s first product is the DDR2 MetaSDRAM. MetaSDRAM provides a solution to the persistent gap between memory and processing improvements – processing power doubles every 18 months, while memory lags, doubling only every 36 months – a gap that is limiting processor performance. Until now, the industry addressed this gap by adding higher capacity, but exponentially more expensive DRAM to each dual in-line memory module (DIMM) on the motherboard.

The MetaSDRAM chipset, which sits between the memory controller and the DRAMs, solves the memory capacity problem cost effectively by enabling up to four times more mainstream DRAMs to be integrated into existing DIMMs without the need for any hardware or software changes.  The chipset makes multiple DRAMs look like a larger capacity DRAM to the memory controller. The result is “stealth” high-capacity memory that circumvents the normal limitations set by the memory controller. This new technology has accelerated memory technology development by 2-4 years.  

DDR3 MetaSDRAM, MetaRAM’s second product offering, is similar to the company’s DDR2 technology in that it enables significantly more memory in a server. The major benefit of DDR3 MetaSDRAM technology is that it enables this larger memory capacity without negatively impacting the operating frequency of the DDR3 memory channel like standard R-DIMMs. It is the only technology that has been shown publicly to run over 16GB of DDR3 SDRAM in a channel at 1066 million transactions per second.

Markets
MetaRAM products are designed for high performance rack-mount servers and workstations that run compute-intensive applications such as CAD/EDA simulations, database transaction processing (OLTP), business intelligence, digital content creation, and virtualization.  These and other heavy workload applications are the backbone of industries like aerospace, automotive, financial services, animation, oil and gas exploration, and semiconductor design and simulation.

Management Team
From the start MetaRAM’s founders envisioned a small company filled with engineers who were not only the best in their field, but who were also hands-on craftsman with a passion for building great technology. The criterion for success is not just original, inspired innovation, but practical innovation that can be easily adopted by our customers within their existing infrastructure.