Mux/Demux Eyes Serial Attached SCSI Systems

Supporting the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) industry standard for storage system and hard disk drive interfaces, the PM8380 QuadSMX 3G Gigabit serial interconnect is a four channel, bi-directional, 2:1 multiplexer/demultiplexer operating at a 3-Gb/s pace. The CMOS device boasts of advanced signal integrity, supports both 3- and 1.5-Gb/s operation, and is compliant with the SAS 1.0 and SATA I/II specs. Other features include programmable per-port transmit pre-emphasis, receive equalization with on-chip terminations, and support for auto-detect or programmable output swing level control for interfacing to SATA I, SATA II or SAS hard disk drives. Functions can be either pin-strapped or user-programmed through a serial interface. The device has a typical power consumption of 800 mW and comes in an 11 x11-mm, 100-pin CABG priced at $14 each/10K. PMC-SIERRA INC., Santa Clara, CA. (604) 415-6065.