NUVATION SATA IP NEWS UPDATE!

As many of you know, Nuvation introduced its SATA Host Controller IP core for FPGA target devices in 2005. Our licensable SATA Host Controller is a drop-in IP block used to interface to external SATA devices. The core includes the transport and link layers of a host controller, also known as a Host Bus Adapter (HBA). The core supports an advanced firmware interface called Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) from Intel.  AHCI simplifies the HBA down to a data-mover, while providing a clean mechanism for command queuing.  The core includes full documentation and support and has been independently certified by Altera. 

Nuvation is now releasing an updated version which will interoperate with external 1.5G and 3G PHYs from a major semiconductor firm (yes we are disclosing the PHY vendor but it requires an NDA).  Nuvation is providing turnkey support for the FPGA IP and PHY solution, in low or high-volume applications.

This solution is geared for any product that needs both an FPGA and one or more SATA storage devices.  Our SATA IP can be integrated with soft processors, video processing blocks, PCI/PCIe cores, USB, and/or custom IP blocks to create FPGA-based SoC solutions.  Each instantiation of our SATA Host Controller uses only 4,800 Altera LEs and less than 24k Memory Bits, or 2488 Slices & 7 BlockRAMs in a Xilinx target. 

Now, for the first time, SATA designs can be implemented with low-cost FPGAs such as Cyclone and Spartan-class devices.  High-density FPGA designs in Stratix or Virtex-class devices can be enabled without the cost premium of an integrated transceiver.  And when a design requires SATA plus additional serial protocols such as PCIe or GbE, the FPGA’s integrated transceiver can be used with the protocols that they are more commonly characterized for -- while utilizing a SATA-specific external PHY for the unique electrical attributes of SATA. 

An evaluation version of our SATA Host IP is available today, as are samples and production quantities of the PHYs (varies by part #).  We are also gathering requirements from customers who may be interested in SAS.

Ask Nuvation a Technical Question

Get an Online Quote