Maxtor Computer Drive - Manual (Page 37)

ATA Bus Interface and ATA Commands
Maxtor DiamondMax 8S 40GB SATA 5-1
Chapter 5
SATA BUS INTERFACE AND ATA COMMANDS
This chapter describes the interface between DiamondMax 8S 40GB Serial ATA hard
disk drives and the Serial ATA bus. The commands that are issued from the host to
control the drive are listed, as well as the electrical and mechanical characteristics of
the interface.
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Maxtor DiamondMax 8S 40GB Serial ATA hard disk drives use the Serial ATA
interface. Support of various options in the standard are explained in the following
sections.
5.2 MECHANICAL INTERFACE
5.2.1 Signal Cable and Connector
The DiamondMax 8S 40GB Serial ATA hard disk drive contains a unitized
connector for both signal and power connections.
5.3 ELECTRICAL INTERFACE
5.3.1 SATA Bus Interface
5.3.1.1 Electrical Characteristics
Signals on the SATA interface are assigned to connector pins according to Section
6.3.4 in the Serial ATA: High Speed Serialized ATA Attachment standard. The
signaling protocol complies with Section 6.6 of the standard.
5.4 REGISTER ADDRESS DECODING
The DiamondMax 8S 40GB Serial ATA hard disk drives allow their host systems to
address the full set of command and control registers as specified in clause 5 and 6 of
the ATA/ATAPI-7, volume 1 standard.
5.5 COMMAND INTERFACE
5.5.1 General Feature Set
The µProcessor, Disk Controller, and SATA Interface electronics are contained in a
proprietary ASIC developed by Maxtor.