Serial ATA - Page 5

Source: Maxtor

- Development of Serial ATA

Seven key promoters have worked together to develop Serial ATA: APT, Dell, IBM, Intel, Maxtor, Quantum and Seagate. Of these, Intel has been the leading player on the host side, with Quantum taking a key role on the device side. All of the promoters are recognized leaders in their respective areas. They are collaborating to leverage their experience with previous interface implementations to ensure that Serial ATA is successfully adopted by the computer industry.

A major thrust of the development is to create a cost-effective solution for primary storage. An example of how Quantum has led this development occurred in October 2000, with Quantum’s proposed change in the physical layer communication protocol that will provide a projected overall cost-saving to end-users of $80 million in the year 2003.

The original specification called for a transmit and receive frequency tolerance of 150 ppm achievable only by using crystal oscillators costing around $0.50 each. The host already uses these oscillators. Some devices make use of cost-effective ceramic resonators costing around $0.10 each. The tolerance of these parts, however, is as large as 6,000 ppm.

The problem for the ceramic resonator is that the specification requires the device to be the first to transmit critical data at a precise clock frequency. The host uses that data to determine the transfer speed, which will enable the support of future generation products. Quantum recognized the opportunity to provide a lower-cost total solution by redesigning the protocol so that initially the host also provides a constant frequency clock signal, but without data content. The device could then use a ceramic resonator source and phase-lock-loop circuitry to synchronize with and track the host-generated signal. That more accurate source is used to generate the serial clock from the device back to the host.

This Quantum solution has been incorporated into the specification and will enable the Serial ATA system to be more cost effective. In place of the need for two crystal oscillators in a host/device system, only one is called for and the second clock source can be a ceramic resonator, saving $0.40 per system. At an estimate of more than 200 million systems in 2003, that adds up to over $80 million in industry savings!

- Future

Parallel ATA has succeeded as the primary storage interface for the past 10 years. A team of leaders in the PC and storage industries has recognized that this interface is now approaching its limit. This team has leveraged their experience to develop the storage interface for the next 10 years. The Serial ATA interface is optimized for internal primary storage and provides the capability for future enhancements. Serial ATA is designed for low cost, with ease of adoption in mind.

Projected next steps for the Serial ATA program are shown below. It is expected that drives and PC motherboards incorporating Serial ATA will be available in 2002.