Samsung 100737108-A

Spinpoint M8-DVR OEM Product Manual REV 1.0

This section describes the SATA II feature set supported in the Samsung Spinpoint M8 drive.

7.1 Device Activity Signal

Spinpoint M8 implemented the Device Activity Signal on the SATA power connector pin-11. The

implementation is based on the SATA II specification. This activity signal is used for indicating the drive

activities, including the queued and non-queued commands. For the host can use this signal to indicate the

command activity.

7.2 Staggered Spin-up Disable Control

Spinpoint M8 implemented the staggered spin-up disab le control by using the SATA power connector pin-11 .

This pin is multiplexed with the Device Activity Signal support. On power up this pin is used for the spin-up

control. After the device is connected with the host, this pin is used for the Device Activity.

Before the device spins up its media, devices that support staggered spin-up disable control shall detect

whether pin 11 is asserted low b y the host. If pin 11 is asserted low the device shall disable staggered spin-up

and immediately initiate media spin-up. If pin 11 is not connected in the host (floating), devices that suppo rt

staggered spin-up disable through pin 11 shall enable staggered spin-up.

7.3 Auto-Activate in DMA Setup FIS

Spinpoint M8 implemented the option for the Auto-Activate in DMA Setup FIS. With this feature enabled,

the DMA Setup FIS is automatically activated. This automation help improve the efficiency of the DMA data

transfer. This feature can be enabled by t he SATA Set Feature co mmand.

If the Set Feature is not issued, the DMA Setup FIS is not automatically activated.

7.4 Native Command Queuing (NCQ)

Spinpoint M8 supports the NCQ feature of th e SATA II command interface. The NCQ feature is unique in

the SATA II implementation which helps device improve the system performance. The implementation is

fully compliant with the SATA II specification.

The drive implements the NCQ with its proprietary hardware and firmware to enhance the command

performance. The NCQ hardware automatically receives the NCQ commands from the host. The hardware

verifies the duplication of the tag number and report tag duplicated error immediately. The automation of the

hardware and firmware h andles the NCQ command from its reception to the reordering and command

execution. The drive intelligent firmware is capable of sorting the physical address of the

incoming

commands

and decides the execution order f or the best performance.