Represents the cash received on account of intangible assets.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of amortization expense for assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a life expected to be recognized after the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	rmbs_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

-- None. No documentation exists for this element. --

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The aggregate expense charged against earnings to allocate the cost of intangible assets (nonphysical assets not used in production) in a systematic and rational manner to the periods expected to benefit from such assets. As a noncash expense, this element is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
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Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388964&loc=d3e16225-109274

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Useful life of finite-lived intangible assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of amortization expense for assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life expected to be recognized during the next fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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- Definition

Amount of amortization expense for assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life expected to be recognized during the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of amortization expense for assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life expected to be recognized during the fourth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of amortization expense for assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life expected to be recognized during the third fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of amortization expense for assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life expected to be recognized during the second fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date.

+ References

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount after amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance and having a projected indefinite period of benefit.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IndefiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsExcludingGoodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Sum of the carrying amounts of all intangible assets, excluding goodwill, as of the balance sheet date, net of accumulated amortization and impairment charges.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
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-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388964&loc=d3e16212-109274

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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- Details

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Intangible Assets and Goodwill (Details 3) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Purchased patents
Amortization of intangible assets	$ 29,341	$ 41,962	$ 37,138
Estimated future amortization expense of intangible assets
Next Twelve Months	20,177
Year Two	19,892
Year Three	12,975
Year Four	2,047
Year Five	1,526
Thereafter	1,719
Finite-lived intangible assets	58,336
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets (Excluding Goodwill)	1,600
Intangible Assets, Net (Excluding Goodwill)	59,936	91,722
Customer contracts and contractual relationships
Estimated future amortization expense of intangible assets
Finite-lived intangible assets	13,257	20,168
Existing technology
Estimated future amortization expense of intangible assets
Finite-lived intangible assets	45,079	66,454
Favorable Contracts [Member]
Identified intangible assets assumed in the acquisitions
Cash received related to intangible assets	1,500	3,600
Estimated future amortization expense of intangible assets
Finite-lived intangible assets	$ 900	$ 1,700
Non-competition agreements
Identified intangible assets assumed in the acquisitions
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	3 years	3 years
Estimated future amortization expense of intangible assets
Finite-lived intangible assets	$ 0	$ 0
Minimum
Identified intangible assets assumed in the acquisitions
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	1 year	1 year
Minimum \| Customer contracts and contractual relationships
Identified intangible assets assumed in the acquisitions
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	1 year	1 year
Minimum \| Existing technology
Identified intangible assets assumed in the acquisitions
Finite-Lived Intangible Asset, Useful Life	3 years	3 years