Yes, for all you Star Wars fans out there, ENVY ME!! I am a member of the Jedi Committee. :-) Just playing, I really meant JEDEC (Je-dek).

I have been in Phoenix for the past few days; well, since Sunday night to be exact, and have endured two days of 8am-6pm conference. This is my first time attending JEDEC conference, despite its long hours, it is fairly interesting, I will explain why in a minute. However, doesn’t matter how fascinating it is, a long day of listening to people digging deep in to the technical details or arguing about regulations can be brain numbing, and the constant lunch/dinner sessions with our customers/partners only intensified both mental and physical fatigue-ness. I find myself unable to pay attention to the discussion at times (such as now) and hence, writing blog sounded like a good alternative.

I have attended a lot of various conferences during my years of working: IDF, RSA, CTST, Comdex… and now JEDEC. While the previous conferences were more “show-n-tell”, “impress-the-visitors” type of deal, JEDEC is very different in nature; it is where all the industry standards/specs relating to the semiconductor memories are set, covering RAM, Flash, DDR, DDR2, DDR3, AMB, AMB2, memory modules, electrical characteristics and etc, etc, etc…

On average there are about 140 or so attendees representing RAM/memory module vendors (Micron, Hynix, Samsung, Elpida…), register/PLL dealers (IDT, ICS…), memory controller companies (Intel, AMD…) and other relating organizations; most of the attendees are seasoned members, and either friend of foe, they are all on first name basis. Setting industry standards implies all involving companies to agree upon a mutual understanding, and that is not easily achieved due to individual interests. Earlier I mentioned JEDEC has been a very interesting experience is because the meetings are highly heated; people argue on everything from specs to JEDEC procedures. Since the decisions made and the technologies discussed at the conference can literally translate into Millions of dollars in gain or loss for a particular company, therefore, intellectual properties, patent rights are highly emphasized at every meeting session and the format/rules of the meetings are heavily regulated by lawyers. People would get up and say “I would like to make a motion to send the ballot to the BoD on raising the DDR2 register voltage level…” and “I second that motion”…

Today I was invited to a JEDEC new member luncheon along with numerous senior JEDEC officers. These guys have set countless standards in the industry; it was a humbling experience to sit on the same table with them!