EW31244SL7QV Datasheet, PDF (25/252 Pages) Intel Corporation – Intel® 31244 PCI-X to Serial ATA Controller

2.4
Intel^® 31244 PCI-X to Serial ATA Controller
Overview
Serial ATA Interface
Four 1.5 Gbits/s Serial ATA ports are located on the GD31244, to support point-to-point
connectivity to:
• Disk Drives
• CD ROMs
• DVD ROMs
• Any other Serial ATA target device
Each port is compliant with the Serial ATA Specification. High-speed differential-duplex serial
lines send 8B/10B encoded data to and from the GD31244 and the target at a maximum raw data
rate of 1.2 Gbits/s (150 Mbytes/s). Copies of the target Task File Registers are maintained on the
GD31244 and transferred as needed to the target. The Serial ATA protocol is software compatible
with all existing operating systems that support ATA devices. However, performance and reliability
are improved, since all data is CRC checked.
The GD31244 may be configured in a high-performance mode where each SATA port is addressed
individually, eliminating the performance bottlenecks of Master/Slave configurations. This mode is
called “Direct Port Access (DPA)” and requires enhanced software and drivers. The MS_DA input
selects between Master/Slave mode (when HIGH) and DPA mode (when LOW). The SATA
interface on the GD31244 supports four independent SATA ports, but may also be set up to emulate
IDE Master/Slave (M/S or PCI IDE mode). IDE M/S emulation is included primarily for
debugging purposes. Four 1.5 Gb/s Serial ATA ports are located on the GD31244 to support
point-to-point connectivity to disk drives, CD ROMs, DVD ROMs or any other Serial ATA target
device. Each port is compliant with the “Serial ATA / High Speed Serialized AT Attachment”
specification, Rev. 1.0, August 29, 2001. High speed differential duplex serial lines send 8b/10b
encoded data to and from the GD31244 and the target at a maximum data rate of 1.5 Gb/s (150
MB/s). Copies of the targets’ Task File Registers are maintained on the GD31244 and transferred
as needed to the target. The GD31244 in M/S mode is software compatible with all existing
operating systems that support ATA devices; however, performance and reliability are improved
since all data is CRC checked.
Developer’s Manual
April 2004
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