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Formation and Business of the Company	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011
Formation and Business of the Company
Formation and Business of the Company	1. Formation and Business of the Company         Rambus Inc. (the "Company" or "Rambus") is a premier intellectual property and technology licensing company focusing on the creation, design, development and licensing of patented innovations, technologies and architectures that are foundational to nearly all digital electronics products and systems. The Company was incorporated in California in March 1990 and reincorporated in Delaware in March 1997. The Company's mission is to continuously enrich the end-user experience of electronic systems through groundbreaking innovations and technologies designed to improve the performance, power efficiency, time-to-market and cost-effectiveness of the products, components and systems offered by market-leading companies in semiconductors, computing, tablets, handheld devices, mobile applications, gaming and graphics, high definition televisions ("HDTVs") and displays, general lighting, cryptography and data security. The Company's inventors and engineering teams focus on creating innovations designed to address the most challenging demands of each target market and industry. The Company generates revenue by licensing its patented innovations and technologies to market-leading companies that provide their products to the end-user customers or consumers. The Company believes it has established an unparalleled licensing platform and business model that will continue to foster the development of new foundational and leading innovations and technologies. By continuing to build upon this platform, the Company's goal is to create additional licensing opportunities, and thereby perpetuate strong company operating performance and long-term stockholder value.         While the Company has historically focused its efforts in the development of technologies for electronics memory and chip interfaces, it is in the process of expanding its portfolio of inventions and solutions to address additional markets in lighting, displays, chip and system security, digital media, as well as new areas within the semiconductor industry, such as imaging and non-volatile memory. The Company intends to continue its growth into new technology fields, consistent with its mission to create great value through its innovations and to make those technologies available through its licensing business model. Key to its efforts, both in its current businesses and in any new area of diversification, will be hiring and retaining world-class inventors, scientists and engineers to lead the development of inventions and technology solutions for these fields of focus, and the management and business support personnel necessary to execute of its plans and strategies.

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- Definition

The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings).

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