Fujitsu Ships USB 3.0 SATA Bridge ICs
For HDDs
This is a Press Release edited by StorageNewsletter.com on July 28, 2009 at 3:40 pmFujitsu Microelectronics Limited announced the shipment of one of the first available USB 3.0 – SATA bridge IC in the market, which supports SuperSpeed USB, the USB 3.0 specification, and enables data transfer rates of 5Gbps maximum between external storage devices – such as hard disk drives (HDDs) – and PCs.
The new IC, the MB86C30A,, is the first in the MB86C30 Series of USB 3.0-SATA bridge ICs, and when embedded in PC peripheral devices, enables over 10-fold faster data transfer rates in comparison to the USB 2.0 specification. In addition to the bridge functionality, the new IC also features a high-speed data encryption/decryption engine, offering high security without impairing the high-speed performance of USB 3.0. Samples of the new MB86C30A IC are available from July 27, 2009.
Today, PCs and digital audio-visual equipment handle an ever-growing volume of data such as digital photos, audio and video files. These market needs are driving storage devices, such as hard disk drives, to have ever-increasing data volumes and speeds. The ubiquitous USB interface, used widely in external hard drives and USB memory sticks, has had a slow maximum data transfer rate of 480Mbps under the USB 2.0 specification, too slow to meet current strong demand for the ability to read and write high volumes of data in shorter time. The USB 3.0 specification (SuperSpeed USB) ratified in November 2008 resolves this issue by providing a maximum data transfer rate that is over 10 times faster than that of USB 2.0. In addition, this revolutionary next-generation specification includes greater protocol efficiency as well as improved power management techniques, which enable lower power consumption.
As this IC series enables 5Gbps high-speed data transfer between the PC and external HDDs, for the case of 3.5-HDDs, copying two hours worth of full high-vision video can be reduced from 12 minutes to approximately 3 minutes 30 seconds to 4 minutes in comparison to USB 2.0.
The MB86C30A IC also contains an embedded AES encryption engine that makes it possible to store encrypted data on HDDs, thus protecting confidential information from threats when portable devices are lost or stolen – a well-publicized problem in recent years – or to prevent data leaks when storage devices are disposed of. In addition, compared to software encryption, this hardware encryption does not burden the CPU of the host PC while providing more secure protection of user’s data.
This series of ICs is being co-developed with Fujitsu Laboratories Limited, utilizing their high-speed serial interface technologies, and Fujitsu LSI Solution Limited. Going forward, Fujitsu Microelectronics will strengthen and expand its line-up of USB 3.0 IC products including those for digital AV equipment.
Sample Availability of the MB86C30A: From July 27, 2009
Sales Target: 1 million units per month
Comments
The market for USB 3.0 is going to be so big that several companies are working hard to be the first to produce controllers.
On the host side, NEC Electronics is supposed to ship a
controller in volume next September.
And maybe, we can wait for some external HDDs and some PCs with such an interface before the end of the year. But who is really the first one to ship ICs?
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