LSI Preamplifier IC for HDDs

LSI Corporation announced the TrueStore PA2900, a next-generation preamplifier integrated circuit (IC) delivering best-in-class performance for hard disk drives (HDDs). The PA2900 is also one of the industry’s first universal preamplifiers, providing the versatility to serve the notebook, desktop and enterprise HDD market segments.

"Speed is the name of the game in preamps, but the emergence of common preamps that can work with virtually any disk drive has the potential to be a game-changing innovation," said Mark Greenen, Founder and President, TRENDFOCUS. "Having only a single part to qualify opens the door to lower development costs, reduced inventories and faster time to market for HDD makers."

Utilizing proven LSI silicon-germanium processes, the PA2900 delivers best-in-class write performance with operating speeds of up to 4.0Gb/s, an increase of more than 40 percent versus the previous-generation notebook preamplifier and more than 20 percent versus previous enterprise and desktop parts.

The PA2900 provides HDD makers with the flexibility to deploy a common part that serves all major HDD market segments – from 5.4K RPM notebook drives through 15K RPM enterprise HDDs. Manufacturers who integrate the PA2900 into their HDD assemblies can benefit from reduced R&D investment, simplified inventory control, accelerated time to market and lower operating expenses.

"Our goal is to be the world’s leading HDD silicon provider," said Phil Brace, general manager, Storage Peripherals Division, LSI. "The PA2900 is the latest example of how LSI innovation, intellectual property and processes deliver superior value and faster time to market for HDD makers."

LSI offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of preamplifier and system-on-a-chip (SoC) components for HDD manufacturers, enabling its customers to address all segments of the HDD market from mission-critical enterprise applications and high-capacity desktop PCs to low-power laptops and a variety of consumer electronic devices.

The TrueStore PA2900 preamplifier IC is available now to qualified customers.