USB 3.0-To-SATA Bridge IC Supports SuperSpeed USB

The MB86C30A is a USB 3.0-to-SATA bridge IC that supports the ultra-fast 5-Gbps maximum data transfer rate of SuperSpeed USB, the USB 3.0 specification. 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) to PCs when compared with the earlier 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. The MB86C30A integrates all the USB signal communication control circuits, SATA communication control circuits, and protocol and command control circuits that are required for constructing an external USB storage device and to realize 5-Gbps 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 cipher text stealing. Both modes are ideal 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, stolen, or disposed of. The MB86C30A is manufactured in a 64-pin LQFP measuring 7 x 7mm (0.4mm pitch) using Fujitsu’s 65nm low power CMOS process technology. The first engineering samples will be available in August 2009. FUJITSU MICROELECTRONICS EUROPE GMBH, Langen, Germany. +49-6103-6900.