Product category:
Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs
News Release from: Agere Systems | Subject: PA7700
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 11 August 2004
Speedy pre-amp boosts HDD performance
Agere Systems has developed a new low-power preamplifier integrated circuit (IC) specifically designed for use in mobile hard disk drives (HDDs).
Agere Systems has developed a new low-power preamplifier integrated circuit (IC) specifically designed for use in mobile hard disk drives (HDDs) This storage chip delivers the industry's fastest operating speeds in a low-power design, equipping notebook PCs with increased storage capacity, extended battery life, and the performance needed to serve as desktop PC replacements
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 28 Apr 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Preamplifier IC rides on 2.5in disk drive
Samsung is using the TrueStore PA7700 preamplifier IC, claimed to deliver the industry's lowest power consumption, best bit error rate performance and fastest operating speeds.
HDD pre-amp boasts fastest operation
High-performance, low-power pre-amplifier integrated circuit is specifically designed for use in enterprise and desktop computer hard disk drives.
Developed specifically for 2.5in mobile HDDs, Agere's new TrueStore PA7700 preamplifier IC offers exceptional performance, with read/write speeds topping 1.2Gbit/s while consuming half the power of previous-generation Agere chips.
This chip enables higher storage capacity in disk drives and more reliable storage for PC manufacturers.
Agere is delivering engineering samples of this new chip to leading HDD developers.
Further reading
Read channel saves power for handheld drives
Fully functional 90nm TrueStore read channel features the industry's lowest power consumption and highest performance within the market for handheld consumer electronics.
Integrated SoC is home solution for Samsung
Samsung has chosen Agere Systems' TrueOne home solutions to develop its home media server and gateway for mobile and broadband network service providers.
Design is novel concept in storage servers
The mobile content server is claimed to untether users from the PC and stationary storage devices.
Industry analyst firm Gartner Dataquest expects that the number of 2.5in disk drives shipped globally will reach more than 96 million by 2008, with a 14% compound annual growth rate from 2004 to 2008.
Gartner has ranked Agere number-one in hard disk drive semiconductors for units shipped in 2003.
"Agere is offering a preamplifier that squarely addresses the needs of laptop PCs, the highest-growth segment of the computing market", said Joe O'Hare, Vice President of Agere's Storage Division.
"We are delivering the outstanding speed, performance and power savings that will help PC makers accelerate the adoption of laptops as desktop PC replacements".
The new chip enhances Agere's TrueStore electronics portfolio, which offers preamplifier solutions targeted for each segment of the computing market.
This low-power preamplifier joins Agere's previously announced TrueStore PA7500, which is tailored for the desktop PC and enterprise markets.
An HDD's preamplifier is closely tied to the performance of the drive's heads and media.
As a drive "reads" analogue data from the disk drive platter, the preamplifier amplifies these extremely small signals before they are sent to a read-channel IC for sophisticated processing and digitisation.
A preamplifier is also integral to the write process by driving current through the inductive write head, which records information on the platter.
Agere's new PA7700 offers the fastest data throughput available in a low-power solution, which translates to improved bit error rate performance.
With Agere's chip, HDD manufacturers can increase storage capacity in higher performance 7200rev/min drives to match that of today's desktop PCs, and help transition the mobile market to next-generation area densities.
The PA7700 writer architecture was designed to support the low-power needs of the 2.5in 4200rev/min power sensitive market as well as the high-performance requirements of the 2.5in 7200rev/min market.
This architecture automatically decreases the power proportional to frequency, so extra energy is not used at lower speeds.
This is accomplished without degrading the write signal integrity of the lower speed signals, resulting in increased signal-to-noise ratio performance at those datarates.
In addition to low power dissipation, Agere's PA7700 offers innovative features for optimised HDD development.
The chip's bit-programmable head support allows disk drive engineers to integrate the PA7700 with either giant magnetoresistive (GMR) or tunnelling GMR (TGMR) head technology.
The PA7700 is also Agere's first preamplifier to support perpendicular recording, a revolutionary technique for increasing storage capacity beyond the limits of today's longitudinal recording process.
Leveraging Agere's expertise in perpendicular recording for read channels, the PA7700 can provide desktop-class switching times in perpendicular recording systems, providing increased data storage efficiency without adding excess power.
With Agere's solution, HDD designers have the flexibility of using a single preamplifier across multiple drive designs and achieve superior performance regardless of what head technology or recording technique is selected.
Agere expects to be in volume production with its low-power PA7700 preamplifier IC in early 2005.
Production quantities of the desktop-level PA7500 are available now.
• Agere Systems: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
