Serial storage SoCs demanding to test

摘要

The storage industry this year began widespread implementation of serial-based technologies to replace parallel physical-interface standards (AT bus attachment, or ATA, and Small Computer Systems Interface, or SCSI) currently used to connect a system bus to disk storage devices. Integrating the serial interface directly in storage systems-on-chip (SoCs) is the natural continuation of a trend to higher integration, but it is not without its own set of challenges in SoC design and production testing. The advances afforded storage devices that use serial technology are significant. First, data throughput is increased: Desktop and mobile disk drives that support, for example, Serial ATA (SATA) interfaces can increase speeds from the shared 100 Mbytes per second (for parallel ATA) to dedicated bandwidth of 150 Mbytes/s or 300 Mbytes/s. In addition, serial interface cables are thinner than bulky parallel cables and use fewer pins, saving space inside the box.