Fujitsu introduces USB 3.0 to SATA bridge IC

Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME) has released a USB 3.0 to SATA bridge IC, which supports the ultra-fast 5Gbps maximum data transfer rate of Superspeed USB, the USB 3.0 specification.

The MB86C30A is the first in Fujitsu's MB86C30 series of USB 3.0 to SATA bridge ICs.

When embedded in PC peripheral devices, the IC provides an order-of-magnitude increase in data transfer rates from external storage devices, such as hard disk drives (HDDs) and PCs, compared to the USB 2.0 specification.

In addition to the bridge functionality, the IC also features a high-speed data encryption/decryption engine, offering high security without impairing the high-speed performance of USB 3.0.

Today, PCs and digital audio-visual equipment handle a growing volume of data from digital photos and audio and video files.

These market needs are driving storage devices to have ever-increasing data volumes and speeds.

The USB interface, used widely in external HDDs and memory sticks, has a maximum data transfer rate of 480Mbps under the USB 2.0 specification - too slow to meet current demands for the ability to read and write high volumes of data in a shorter time.

Superspeed USB, ratified in November 2008, resolves this issue by providing a maximum data transfer rate that is more than 10 times faster than that of the USB 2.0.

In addition, this next-generation specification includes greater protocol efficiency as well as improved power management techniques, which enable lower power consumption.

The MB86C30A is a single-chip solution that integrates all the USB signal communication control circuits, SATA communication control circuits, protocol and command control circuits that are the necessary functions for constructing an external USB storage device and to realise 5Gbps data transfer to a host PC.

The device also contains an embedded AES engine that supports two operation modes: cipher block chaining (CBC), a mode for encrypting block data; and XTS, the XEX encryption mode with tweak and ciphertext stealing.

Both modes are suitable for hard disks in terms of security, strength and speed of encryption/decryption.

The encryption engine makes it possible to store encrypted data on HDDs, thus protecting confidential information from threats when portable devices are lost or stolen or to prevent data leaks when storage devices are disposed of.

Also, compared to software encryption, this hardware encryption does not burden the central processing unit (CPU) of the host PC and provides better protection of the user's data.

The MB86C30 series is being jointly developed with Fujitsu Laboratories and Fujitsu LSI Solutions.

The MB86C30A USB 3.0 to SATA bridge IC for PC peripherals is a single-chip solution that integrates the USB signal communication control circuits, SATA signal communication control circuits, protocol and command control circuits and Fujitsu proprietary high-speed serial interface technologies, thus enabling 5Gbps high-speed data transfer.

The 5Gbps maximum transfer rate of USB 3.0 allows a two-hour full HD video to be copied to a 3.5in (8.9cm) hard disk drive in three to four minutes.

The AES encryption/decryption engine eliminates the need for encryption software and an encryption/decryption IC.

This makes it possible to encode data stored on external-storage HDDs featuring a standard SATA HDD.

The IC supports data transfer speeds that can cover SATA HDD performance, protecting customer data with the same operation and usability of external-storage HDDs that do not support encryption.

High-speed encryption and decryption processing at a maximum of 300Mb/s provides throughput without impairing the speed performance of the USB 3.0.

The IC integrates both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 SATA links and PHYs and a 32-bit RISC processor to respond to requests from the USB host.

Further features include SPI support for serial flash ROM, support for the HID class, ATA/ATAPI device support, ATA command pass-through function support, customised function support for VID/PID, low power consumption and a supply voltage of 1.2V to 3.3V.

The MB86C30A is manufactured in a 64-pin LQFP measuring 7mm x 7mm (0.4mm pitch) using Fujitsu's 65nm low-power CMOS process technology.

The first engineering samples will be available in August 2009.

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