Maxtor, Silicon Image and Comax to Demonstrate Serial ATA External Storage Device

(Auszug aus der Pressemitteilung)

INTEL DEVELOPERS FORUM (IDF), SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 16 – Maxtor Corporation (NYSE: MXO), a worldwide leader

in hard disk drives, Silicon Image, Inc. (Nasdaq: SIMG), a leader in
high-bandwidth semiconductor and system solutions for mass markets, and Comax
Technology Inc., a worldwide manufacturer of computer cables, connectors and
accessories, have joined together to demonstrate the first external storage
Serial ATA (SATA) device based on an early draft of the Serial ATA II Cables
and Connectors Volume 2 specification being developed by the SATA II Working
Group.

The external storage prototype is a sample of next-generation SATA
technology designed to meet the growing demand for faster external hard drive
connections. The demonstration includes video playback from an external
storage device for entertainment PCs. External storage devices are also well
suited for gaming PCs and notebooks, or to expand storage for graphic artists
and media creators.

The prototype can be seen in Silicon Image’s booth 436 and the SATA
Working Group’s booth 438, Sept. 16-18 at IDF Fall 2003 at the McEnery
Convention Center in San Jose.

“It’s great to see these companies working together to develop and
validate the SATA II external interconnect technology by delivering a complete
solution based on the early drafts of the specification,” said Knut Grimsrud,
SATA Working Group chairman and Intel senior principal engineer. “Maxtor,
Silicon Image and Comax are part of the Serial ATA Working Group and have been
instrumental in defining the external connector draft specification, which is
expected to be released by the end of this year. Together, the Working Group
is enabling new uses of Serial ATA that delivers positive user experiences and
robust interoperability.”

The SATA prototype uses a Maxtor(R) DiamondMax(R) SATA hard drive in an
external drive enclosure; Silicon Image’s industry leading SiI 3112
SATALink(TM) PCI-to-SATA Host Controller; and Comax’s early version of its
shielded external SATA cable. The companies’ demonstration shows how easily
external SATA storage can be added to PCs for games, video, photos, corporate
data or back-up protection.

“The increasing activities involving digital data, multimedia content and
gaming in over 200 million PC households worldwide is impacting the need for
external storage capacity devices in a positive way,” said David Reinsel,
research manager with IDC. “A Serial ATA-based configuration is a unique
external storage solution that will provide the interface performance needed
today with the headroom for growth tomorrow.”

Because the proposed SATA external interconnect specification is defined
for use only with a more conservative Phy, it allows for longer cable lengths
than the internal specification, and offers SATA performance for external
storage devices such as hard drives, CD/DVDs, optical devices and more. At 1.5
Gb per second, SATA has a transfer rate as much as three times faster than USB
2.0 and two times faster than 1394b for external storage devices (Editor’s
note: these are maximum speed burst rates). Future SATA speeds of 3.0 Gb per
second and beyond will further increase this performance.

Maxtor