BW0544 JUL 24,2000 12:22 PACIFIC 15:22 EASTERN
( BW)(CA-SERIAL-ATA) ATA Jumps to Gigabit Speeds; 1.5Gbps Serial ATA Products Expected in 2001, No Parallel ATA Products Planned Beyond Ultra ATA/100
Business Editors
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2000--Computer industry leaders today announced that the definition of Serial ATA, the next generation ATA technology, is nearing completion. Serial ATA will supply storage interface headroom for many generations to come, beginning with 1.5Gbps, scalable to 2x, 4x and beyond.
APT Technologies Inc., Dell Computer Corporation, IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation, Maxtor Corporation, Quantum Corporation and Seagate Technology announced that each company is focusing development on products that support the new Serial ATA storage interface specification and have no plans to develop products based upon parallel technology beyond the Ultra ATA/100 interface.
Since the announcement of the Serial ATA working group effort at Intel Developer Forum in February, the group has added more than 40 Contributor companies to the membership from the silicon design, cable/connector, storage, and systems industries.
"Quantum has had a history of industry leadership in extensions of Ultra ATA," said Jim McGrath, technical marketing director for Quantum's Personal Computing Storage Division. "Now Quantum is fully engaged in the effort to define Serial ATA. We are optimistic about the prospects of Serial ATA as the next mainstream HDD interface after Ultra ATA/100."
"Parallel ATA has done a tremendous job bringing us to this point, but the industry will need a new interface for the future," said Mike Bryan, Seagate director of Firmware Development. "With Serial ATA, our customers will benefit from significantly increased data rates, as well as software backward compatibility. Along with simplified, smaller connectors, and lower voltage requirements the interface provides for the elimination of the hard-to-handle wide-ribbon cable that is currently used."
"Serial ATA technology provides the performance headroom to support system and storage device advancements for years to come, as well as the backward compatibility to ensure existing software investments are preserved," said Rick Coulson, Intel Fellow and director of I/O Architecture, Intel Architecture Labs. "Because of these advantages, Intel plans to move directly from ATA/100 to Serial ATA."
"Serial ATA represents a new era for low cost desktop mass storage interface," said Jim Rubino, president and CEO of APT Technologies. "This new technology allows mass storage devices to leverage the existing parallel ATA industry infrastructure while providing a growth path for higher bandwidth and enhanced systems capabilities. APT Technologies plans to support the Serial ATA effort with attachment products and IP blocks."
"I believe that Serial ATA will be very attractive to our desktop and mobile disk drive customers because of its enhanced performance, future expandability and backward software compatibility," said Currie Munce, director of advanced technology at IBM's Storage Technology Division in San Jose, CA. "The strong industry support that has developed for this new direction in the ATA interface will be critical in orchestrating a smooth transition from parallel ATA/100 to Serial ATA."
"Dell has supported the work of the Serial ATA working group from the beginning," said Jeff Clarke, vice president of desktop products at Dell. "We look forward to being able to move the concept into shipping products."
The seven companies have formed the Serial ATA working group and are working together to develop the Serial ATA storage interface specification for the next-generation computing platform. This interface is used to connect storage devices, such as hard disks, DVDs and CD-R/Ws, to the motherboard and is the replacement for today's Parallel ATA physical storage interface.
While maintaining compatibility with today's software, Serial ATA will provide a storage interface that meets the needs of tomorrow's computers and links emerging system and storage technologies. Serial ATA will also enable computer manufacturers to design systems with cables that are simpler to route and install and will enable the use of smaller connectors and lower voltages than is possible with the existing Parallel ATA technology. The working group expects to complete the Serial ATA specification in the third quarter of this year. More information about the Serial ATA working group, and how to become a contributor and/or adopter, is available at www.serialata.org.
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CONTACT: APT Technologies
Jeff Cherin, 831/429-7271
or
Dell
TR Reid, 512/728-7977
or
IBM
Francine U. Fiano, 914/945-2121
or
Intel
Mary-Ellin Brooks, 408/765-0727
or
Maxtor
Erin Hartin, 510/723-6206
or
Quantum
Rob Lopez, 408/324-7431
or
Seagate
John Paulsen, 831/439-2499
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA MASSACHUSETTS TEXAS
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
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