IDE Training Course, Part 1: A Detailed Look at the Basics and Technology

ATA Standards At A Glance, Continued

ATA/ ATAPI-4

ATA/ ATAPI-5

ATA-5 was introduced under the name of NCITS 340 in 2000. UltraDMA modes 3 and 4 were the most interesting. In order to be able to use the possible bandwidth of 44 or 66 MB/s, the use of an 80-wire IDE cable was required.

With ATA-5, some old ATA commands were thrown overboard; others were modified to face the new performance realities.

ATA/ ATAPI-6

The prevailing version of the ATA standard so far includes UltraDMA mode 5 and the expansion of the LBA mode from 28 bits (with a maximum of 137 GB per drive) to 48 bits. Furthermore, Acoustic Management is included as well. This makes it possible to use software to throttle the access speed of modern hard drives, noticeably reducing the operating noise. For the first time, ergonomics is an important factor. Efforts to officially integrate commands for the faster handling of audio and video streams are currently underway.

ATA7?
This standard does not yet exist, because Serial ATA is about to be introduced and is not supported by a number of leading manufacturers. However, if ATA7 is submitted later, it is sure to include UltraDMA mode 6.

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Header Cell - Column 0 ATA-1ATA-2ATA-3ATA-4ATA-5ATA-6
Added PIO modes0,1,23,4----
Added DMA modes0,1,2Multiword 0Multiword 1,2----
UltraDMA modes---0,1,23,45
Maximum transfer rates11.1 MB/s16.6 MB/s16.6 MB/s33.3 MB/s66.6 MB/s100 MB/s
Cables40-wire40-wire40-wire40/80-wire80-wire80-wire
ANSIstandard, yearX3.221-1994X3.279-1996X3.298-1997NCITS 317-1998NCITS 340-2000NCITS 347-2001
Added features-Block transfers, LBA, drive identificationSMART,reliability featuresCRC, 80-wire cable-48 bit LBA
Known asATA/IDEATA/IDEATA/IDEUltraDMA/33UltraDMA/66, ATA/66UltraDMA/100, ATA/100
TOPICS
Patrick Schmid
Editor-in-Chief (2005-2006)

Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.