New Serial ATA Specification Hits 3 Gbps

The Serial ATA Working Group has completed two new specifications. One centers on doubling the signaling speed for Serial ATA, the other on new cable and connector solutions to support additional applications and usage models.



The second generation Serial ATA signaling speed is specified at 3 Gbps -- double that of the first-generation Serial ATA speed. Among the features of the enhanced technology is that no new cables and connectors are required to support the higher signaling speeds. The new specification also defines a higher-power version of it for longer-haul external datacenter use. The external phy version defined in the specification only impacts box-to-box applications (not used as a direct disk drive connection) and has been defined to match the electrical parameters for the SAS phy.



A updated specification has also been completed for cables and connectors. There are several new cabling options: an internal multi-lane cable and connector assembly for streamlining connections between multiple internal host ports and internal devices or short backplane; an external consumer cable and connector solution that accommodates use of Serial ATA with external storage devices; and an external multi-lane datacenter cable and connector solution for connecting multiple Serial ATA channels between chassis in a datacenter. http://www.serialata.org