LeCroy SATA Sierra M6-1

Serial ATA Test and Verification: Teledyne LeCroy's protocol analysis tools are designed from the ground up to address these unique characteristics of Serial ATA. Teledyne LeCroy's analysis and design suites are developed specifically for use with the SAS and SATA protocols, and provide extensive protocol decoding, expert error analysis, and complete user support when decoding and viewing the recorded traffic. This extensive protocol support, combined with the different traffic views, advanced triggering, data filtering, traffic generation, and error injection capability, allows engineers to rapidly become familiar with SATA-specific issues, and quickly understand new issues the first time they encounter them.Teledyne LeCroy provides everything needed for Serial ATA analysis including real-time hardware triggering and filtering on the critical components of Serial ATA traffic. Teledyne LeCroy's Expert Analysis software simplifies the overall debug process by using collapsible, color-coded packets to represent commands, FISs and primitives. This provides point-and-click "drill down" to lower level details along with the ease of use and understanding that Teledyne LeCroy is well known for.
Learn more about SATA (Serial ATA)Technology

SATA (Serial ATA) Overview
The storage industry is in the midst of a large-scale transition from parallel ATA, the dominant desktop storage interface, to Serial ATA. This migration reflects a broader transition across the industry to Serial technologies for computer-based communications. Driven primarily by lower voltages and costs required in future chipsets, Serial ATA is poised for industry-wide adoption. The specification thoughtfully preserves software compatibility with the Parallel ATA command set. What's more, it offers smaller, thinner, lower cost cables that also offer compatibility at the physical layer with the emerging Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) standard.
Features
Performance - Parallel ATA does not have scalability to support several more speed doublings, and it is nearing its performance capacity. By contrast, Serial ATA defines a roadmap starting at 1.5 gigabits per second (equivalent to a data rate of 150 MB/s) up to 6Gigabits per second.
Lower Voltage - Parallel ATA's 5-volt signaling requirement will be increasingly difficult to meet as the industry continues to reduce chip core voltages. Serial ATA is better aligned with future manufacturing processes. It reduces signaling voltages to approximately 250 millivolts (1/4 volt).
Pin Count - Currently, the parallel ATA interface has 26 signal pins going into the interface chip. Serial ATA uses only 4 signal pins, improving the pin efficiency and accommodating a highly integrated chip implementation.
Improved Cabling - Parallel ATA bulky ribbon cables contain 40-pin header connector. Serial ATA introduces thin, flexible cabling scheme that offers longer cables and improved airflow within the chassis.
Software Compatible - Serial ATA is compatible at the register level with parallel ATA. This means Serial ATA requires no changes to existing software and operating systems in order to function, and it provides backward compatibility with existing operating environments.
SAS Compatibility - A significant feature offered by Serial ATA is the expectation that SATA will be form-factor compatibility with Serial Attached SCSI. SATA drives will plug directly into Serial Attached SCSI connectors and if supported in the system, will transparently operate as a SATA device. This allows systems to be deployed that can use either Serial Attached SCSI drives, for their high performance or SATA drives that will provide a lower-cost-per-megabyte storage platform.
SATA DevSleep™ - The latest SATA 3.2 specification includes DevSleep, a new feature designed to reduce power consumption and allow longer battery life as well as energy savings in the data center. It re-uses the 3.3V power pin on the SATA interface to instruct the device to enter the Sleep state where it uses less power than Slumber mode. With most low power modes, this new feature requires extensive testing at the protocol layer to ensure a seamless user experience.
Architecture
Serial ATA is a full duplex protocol. There is a continuous flow of signals from each device moving down the bus. The device and host are transmitting (TX) and receiving (RX) at the same time.
Bidirectional traffic pattern eliminates the need for bus negotiation overhead
Data characters vs Primitives - Primitives are the simplest elements within the Serial ATA protocol. Primitives are 32-bit DWORDs used to initiate control of the serial line functions (X_RDY, CONT, etc...). In addition to these "handshaking" and flow control signals, Primitives are also used to delimit or "frame" user data.
Frame Information Structure (FIS) - A frame is an indivisible unit of information exchanged between a host and device. A frame consists of a SOF primitive, a Frame Information Structure (FIS), a CRC calculated over the contents of the FIS, and an EOF primitive. A FIS is the user payload of a frame; a frame is a group of Dwords that convey information between host and device as described previously.

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The Sierra M6-1 products are ultra-portable single-port systems. Measuring just 6.25" wide, 1.38" high, 9.0" deep (15.9 x 3.5 x 22.9 cm) and weighing in at 1.7 lbs (0.77 Kg), Sierra M6-1 systems are incredibly compact units fitting easily into the corner of a brief case or backpack. Operating at 1.5, 3, or 6 Gb/s SATA data rates, and available with 2 or 4 GB of recording memory, Sierra M6-1 systems offer world-class protocol verification capability at price points within reach of every budget.
Flexibility to Meet any Debug Challenge

Sierra M6-1 systems come standard with both USB and GbE interface ports for maximum flexibility in connecting to the PC used to host Teledyne LeCroy's SAS/SATA Protocol Suite software. The versatile GbE port can be used for either local or remote network connectivity. Sierra M6-1 systems can be linked together in cascade configurations to provide additional recording channel capacity, enabling simultaneous error injection and trace capture/analysis (requires multiple Sierra M6-1 units, at least one licensed as a protocol analyzer model and one licensed as an error injector).

 

The Sierra M6-1 data capture capabilities include Easy Mode triggering to provide engineers with the ability to capture precise traffic conditions such as timing between events or changes in link state. Easy Mode triggering conditions can be set up quickly through very straightforward, easily understood drop-down menu selections.

 

Native PHY for Efficient Lock-Time

The Sierra M6-1 incorporates 6 Gb/s capable native PHYs for better capture performance in speed negotiation and power management phases.
Compact System Design

Sierra M6-1 products are designed for convenience, portability, and functionality. The front panel provides convenient access to Host and Device data bus connectors and 5 status indicator LEDs for each connectors (Trigger, Error, Link, Speed, Data). The Sierra M6-1 rear panel provides a multifunction connector for External Trigger IN/OUT and SYNC Expansion Port; USB 2.0; 10/100/1000baseT Ethernet; and DC power in connections.

 

Sierra M6-1 SATA Protocol Suite

Sierra M6-1 models are software compatible with the Teledyne LeCroy SATA Protocol Suite and offer the same full range of features as the other products in the Teledyne LeCroy SATA product line. The SATA Protocol Suite offers an intuitive GUI (Graphical User Interface) combining easy setup with flexible data analysis displays. From the link layer to the application layer, Sierra M6-1 offers a wide range of traffic views and tools to enable engineers to easily zero-in on areas of interest, as follows:
Column View shows the handshaking of primitives, and frame composition from SOF to EOF
Data can be viewed in 8b/10b or scrambled formats

Text View is useful for working at the fame level to show exchanges of frames and accompanying primitives
Spreadsheet View shows commands and frames in chronological order and provides the flexibility to easily filter out unwanted primitives or frames to focus on what is important to the issue under investigation
Waveform View shows a waveform display for all active ports
Useful to perform timing measurements for functions OOB signaling
Packet View is specifically designed for analysis of the application layer of a protocol
Frames and primitives that are logically part of a specific SAS or SATA command are assembled for quick and easy review
Allows users to quickly view command definitions, completion, and status
Sierra M6-1 also features a Packet View specifically designed for the application layer. Frames and primitives that are logically part of a specific SATA command are assembled for quick and easy review. The Packet View is protocol specific and allows users to quickly view command definitions, completion, and status.
The capabilities of the SATA Protocol Suite software are especially useful in addressing system-level debug challenges. Users can quickly drill down on commands to view the frame and link layers. All of the analysis views can be used simultaneously and are automatically synchronized and displayed within one application.

Statistical Reports
Statistical reports provide a wealth of statistical and performance reports on events and error counters, as well as performance metrics, providing users with a snapshot into captured traces and rapid access to items of interest.

 

The screen shot above shows an example of a Packet View in the top half of the image and a Statistical Report in the bottom half of the image.
Key Sierra M6-1 Features:
Ultra-portable single-port systems
Supports a single link of SATA up to 6Gb/s
Protocol Analysis or InFusion (error injection) functionality
Native PHY for fast lock time
Synchronize with other Teledyne LeCroy STX and Sierra products for multi-port capability
GbE and USB 2.0 host interfaces
Key Analyzer Features:
Easy Mode Triggering Sequencer
Hardware filtering
Automatic error detection
Comprehensive SATA decoding
Logical & chronological traffic displays
Statistical reporting
2, 4, or 8 GB trace memory options