VIA's Low-Power VL701 USB 3.0 to SATA Bridge Chip Gets Certified by USB-IF

VIA has just announced that its VL701 low-power USB 3.0 to SATA bridge controller has just been certified by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), making it the first company to achieve USB-IF bus-powered certification using a traditional hard disk drive.

This means that manufacturers can now build high-capacity external storage devices that don't require any additional power sources outside of the 5V provided by the USB port.

VIA states that it managed to achieve this feat by integrating all required voltage regulators inside the chip itself.

The VL701 is based on the design of VIA's previous VL700 controller, which was tweaked in order to deliver lower power consumption.

As a result, the USB 3.0 to SATA host controller includes all the features that were supported by its predecessor, including UASP support.

Also called USB Attached SCSI Protocol, this is used to move data to and from USB storage devices such as hard drives, solid state drives, and thumb drives and, among others, it enables command queuing and out-of-order completions for USB mass storage devices.

“The VL701 is an advanced, highly-integrated USB 3.0 to SATA Bridge that lets users experience the benefits of USB 3.0 using hard drives, optical drives, and even SSDs,” said David Hsu, associate vice president, VIA Labs, Inc.

“The low power aspect is compelling for both end-users and manufacturers by enabling lower operating temperatures and longer battery life without sacrificing performance,” concluded the company's rep.

According to VIA, the company has already started shipping the VL701 and pricing is available upon request.

The company has also announced that, Cal-Comp Electronics and Communications, a major Taiwanese ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) which designs devices for many name-brand customers worldwide, adopted and integrated the USB-IF certified VL701 into its upcoming USB 3.0 external storage products.