Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO), a group responsible for developing, managing, and driving adoption of the Serial ATA specifications, is developing a specification for a mini- SATA (mSATA) interface connector. The group said that this new connector will enable more effective SATA integration in small form factor applications.
The specification maps SATA signals onto an existing small form factor connector, enabling more compact integration in a variety of applications for both hard disk (HDD) and solid state drives (SSDs).
According to SATA-IO, mSATA is particularly beneficial for manufacturers planning to incorporate small form factor SSDs (approximately the size of a business card) in portable PC devices, where space utilisation and cost minimisation are key concerns. mSATA will support 1.5 Gb/s and 3.0 Gb/s transfer rates.
Knut Grimsrud, SATA-IO president and Intel fellow and director of storage architecture, said: “As consumers become more reliant on mobile devices, it makes sense to bring the efficiency and speed of SATA technology to this burgeoning highly portable product segment. Solid-state drives provide a rugged, lightweight and lower power storage solution for these devices, and mSATA is one of the few interfaces that can provide a critical compact connection for these small-form factor SSDs.”
Development of the mSATA specification is being driven by members of the SATA-IO Cable and Connector Working Group, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, SanDisk, STEC and Toshiba. SATA IO has also collaborated with the Joint Electronic Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) to develop this specification.
