Mentor Graphics Intros SATA PHY

WILSONVILLE, Ore. -- Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq:MENT), a leader in standards-based semiconductor intellectual property (IP) and fully integrated IP subsystems, today announced its new Serial ATA (SATA) physical layer (PHY) IP core. The SATA PHY IP core, targeted for the TSMC 130nm Low Voltage Oxide (LVOD) process, provides a completely integrated solution for both SATA host and device applications running at either 1.5Gbps or 3.0Gbps speeds. The SATA PHY has one of the industrys smallest footprints based on its efficient analog circuitry design — up to five times smaller than competitive solutions — making it ideal for today’s low-power storage applications and consumer electronics.

Mentor Graphics successfully completed industry testing for the new SATA PHY product at the 8th Annual SATA Plug Fest, April 30-May 4, 2007, held in Milpitas, California. Rigorous co-validation and interoperability testing of Mentor’s SATA subsystem offerings were conducted with major companies, along with competitive SATA products. Mentor’s SATA PHY/SATA Host subsystem was successfully tested against 16 different device vendors and Mentor’s SATA device subsystem was successfully tested against 18 different host vendors. As a result of the SATA Plug Fest, Mentor’s PHY was validated to work in first silicon and exceeded performance specifications, running at the industry required 3.0Gbps.

“The use of verification IP is essential to ensure a high-quality IP solution,” according to Shaw Yang, vice president of business development at Avery Design Systems, Inc., a leading verification IP provider. “In preparation for the SATA Plug Fest, we worked closely with Mentor to test their SATA IP solution for robust compliance and interoperability."

“Mentor continues to provide complete, pre-certified, standards-based digital and mixed-signal IP solutions for SATA and other key applications,” stated Bill Martin, Mentor Graphics IP division general manager. “Our SATA PHY will allow our customers to implement a SATA interface in storage-based designs using less power and smaller area compared to other offerings. As a result, our customers will develop more efficient and innovative consumer products with minimized risk, using our integrated SATA PHY, SATA Host, and Device Controller.”

Mentor Graphics Corp.