Basis of Presentation	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Rambus Inc. (“Rambus” or the “Company”) and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring items) necessary to state fairly the financial position and results of operations for each interim period presented. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) applicable to interim financial information. Certain information and Note disclosures included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been omitted in these interim statements pursuant to such SEC rules and regulations. The information included in this Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Operating Segment Definitions Operating segments are based upon Rambus' internal organization structure, the manner in which its operations are managed, the criteria used by its Chief Operating Decision Maker ("CODM") to evaluate segment performance and availability of separate financial information regularly reviewed for resource allocation and performance assessment. The Company determined its CODM to be the Chief Executive Officer and determined its operating segments to be: (1) Memory and Interfaces Division ("MID"), which focuses on the design, development, manufacturing through partnerships and licensing of technology and solutions that is related to memory and interfaces; (2) Rambus Security Division ("RSD"), which focuses on the design, development, deployment and licensing of technologies for chip, system and in-field application security, anti-counterfeiting, smart ticketing and mobile payments; and (3) Emerging Solutions Division ("ESD"), which includes the Rambus Labs team and the development efforts in the area of emerging technologies. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, only MID and RSD were reportable segments as each of them met the quantitative thresholds for disclosure as a reportable segment. The results of the remaining operating segment was shown under “Other.” Comparability Effective January 1, 2019, Rambus adopted the new lease accounting standards. Prior periods were not retrospectively recast, so the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018 and results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were prepared using accounting standards that were different than those in effect as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2019. Therefore, the consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 are not directly comparable, nor are the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018. Reclassifications Certain prior periods' amounts were reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation. None of these reclassifications had an impact on reported net income for any of the periods presented.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Rambus Inc. (“Rambus” or the “Company”) and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.

In the opinion of management, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring items) necessary to state fairly the financial position and results of operations for each interim period presented. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year.

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) applicable to interim financial information. Certain information and Note disclosures included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been omitted in these interim statements pursuant to such SEC rules and regulations. The information included in this Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Operating Segment Definitions

Operating segments are based upon Rambus' internal organization structure, the manner in which its operations are managed, the criteria used by its Chief Operating Decision Maker ("CODM") to evaluate segment performance and availability of separate financial information regularly reviewed for resource allocation and performance assessment.

The Company determined its CODM to be the Chief Executive Officer and determined its operating segments to be: (1) Memory and Interfaces Division ("MID"), which focuses on the design, development, manufacturing through partnerships and licensing of technology and solutions that is related to memory and interfaces; (2) Rambus Security Division ("RSD"), which focuses on the design, development, deployment and licensing of technologies for chip, system and in-field application security, anti-counterfeiting, smart ticketing and mobile payments; and (3) Emerging Solutions Division ("ESD"), which includes the Rambus Labs team and the development efforts in the area of emerging technologies.

For the three months ended March 31, 2019, only MID and RSD were reportable segments as each of them met the quantitative thresholds for disclosure as a reportable segment. The results of the remaining operating segment was shown under “Other.”

Comparability

Effective January 1, 2019, Rambus adopted the new lease accounting standards. Prior periods were not retrospectively recast, so the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018 and results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were prepared using accounting standards that were different than those in effect as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2019. Therefore, the consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 are not directly comparable, nor are the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018.

Reclassifications

Certain prior periods' amounts were reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation. None of these reclassifications had an impact on reported net income for any of the periods presented.