LSI ships next-gen 65nm physical layer IP for HDDs

MILPITAS, USA: LSI Corp. has begun shipping sample quantities of its next-generation 65nm multi-interface physical layer (PHY) IP for hard disk drives (HDDs) in notebooks and desktop personal computers, as well as enterprise storage systems.

The LSI TrueStore PHY8800 delivers data transfer rates as high as 6gigabits per second to support next-generation serial ATA (SATA) and serial attached SCSI (SAS) interface standards. TrueStore PHYs have best-in-class performance for total transmit jitter and total receive jitter tolerance, both key measurements of noise levels in serial signals. The PHY8800 is compatible with SATA, SAS, and Fibre Channel (FC-PI-2) protocols.

The PHY8800 reduces power consumption by about 10 percent from the previous generation PHY, while doubling the data transfer rates, thereby further reducing power consumption in the HDD while enabling it to communicate much faster with its host. In addition to superior signal processing, the PHY offers HDD makers improved power performance and test features that simplify debugging. The test features include a firmware-controllable signal analyzer that enables engineers at HDD makers to observe, debug and clean up signals easily without the use of expensive test equipment.

Ruediger Stroh, executive vice president and general manager of the LSI Storage Peripherals Group, said: "The new LSI PHY sets a new benchmark in performance with its superior capability of transmitting an exceptionally clean signal to the host and, in turn, being able to receive extremely noisy data and restore it without errors. The ample performance margins of the PHY8800 offer robust operation in the widest variety of host environments, thus enabling HDD makers to reduce costs and focus on system level design."

Stroh added: "This new PHY has been developed as part of the LSI total recording system design that includes new read channels, ARM cores, and hard disk controller IP that will be integrated into next generation 65nm system-on-chip (SoC).  The system is designed as a whole, with LSI preamps, to give HDD makers faster time to market, higher reliability, increased performance and lower overall system power.  No other company can offer the breadth of high-performance storage IC products and systems that LSI delivers."

The PHY is a component of an integrated circuit and serves as the electrical interface that performs the data transmission between the HDD and the host. HDD manufacturers rely on LSI to deliver storage solutions that respond to a rapidly changing market while consistently establishing the industry leading standards in technology.