14 DAY TRIAL // Serial ATA, or SATA for short, has become one of the industry's most used connectivity interfaces, providing consumers with a standardized interface for storage solutions. Having reached its third generation, the interface is expected to provide consumers with an enhanced data rate of up to 6Gbps, double that of the previous generation. On that note, the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) has announced today that it is developing the specifications of a new mini-SATA (mSATA) interface connector. The solution is expected to enable SATA connectivity on a wider range of more portable devices, thanks to reduced physical specifications.
“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,” said Knut Grimsrud, SATA-IO president and Intel fellow and director of storage architecture. “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.”
Expected to be showcased at the upcoming Intel Developer Forum (IDF) from September 22 to 24 in San Francisco, California, the new mSATA connector is expected to deliver support for 1.5Gb/s and 3.0Gb/s transfer rates. With the adoption of the new mSATA connector, the popular SATA interface is expected to be made available on a wider range of portable and ultraportable computer systems, including notebooks and netbooks. The connector will also enable manufacturers to develop smaller form factor SSDs with an approximate size of a business card, thanks to the reduced dimensions.
Companies such as Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, SanDisk, STEC and Toshiba, members of the SATA-IO Cable and Connector Working Group, are behind the development of the new mSATA connectivity interface.