The new Network-DRAM line from the Korean memory giant includes 288-megabit devices, based on double-data-rate SDRAM technology. The new 288-Mbit devices come in three separate organizations: 32-Mbit x 9, 18-Mbit x 18, and 8-Mbit x 36. Engineering samples are targeted for the fourth quarter of 2003, according to Samsung of Seoul.

Samsung has not officially announced the new Network-DRAM products in the marketplace, but the specifications and target sampling dates are listed on the company's Web site.

Mike Pearson, director of enabling technology for Samsung Semiconductor Inc. in San Jose, indicated that the 288-Mbit parts represent the company's second-generation product family. In 2002, the company rolled out its first-generation parts, which were--and still are--offered in a 256-Mbit density.

These networking-specific memories are geared for buffer and look-up table applications in fast networking devices. Network-specific DRAMs, especially those from Samsung, offer one-third the cycle times at high frequencies over commodity DRAMs in communications equipment, Pearson said.

More specifically, Samsung's parts are geared for switches and routers in 10-gigabit-per-second networks, he said. "The Network-DRAM is an OC-192 part," he said.

Suppliers of network-specific DRAMs, however, face some challenges on the business front: The problem is that commodity DRAMs will be suitable in most communications equipment for some time. With the exception of long-haul networks, the current and severe communications downturn has slowed the deployment of OC-192 systems in wide- and metropolitan-area networks, according to analysts. And the deployment of OC-768--or 40-gigabit-per-second networks--is getting pushed out even further, according to analysts.

In fact, the wireline market remains soft, due to overcapacity in long-haul and metro networks. Wireline system sales are projected to be flat in 2003, according to IC Insights Inc. The wireline-chip market is projected to grow 5 percent in 2003, according to the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based research firm.

Fueled by the wireless industry, the worldwide communications-chip market is projected to grow 20 percent in 2003 and another 26 percent in 2004, according to the IC Insights.

And all told, network-specific memory vendors will be vying for a tiny slice of the total DRAM pie. Some believe the network-specific DRAM market represents about 1 or 2 percent of the total DRAM business.