STMicroelectronics Introduces 750Mbit/s CMOS Read Channel IC Reducing Cost and Power Consumption of Hard Disk Drives.

Business Editors

GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2001

`Bramante' chip applies advanced signal processing techniques to

combine performance, low power consumption and competitive price

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) announced today the availability of fully functional samples of a new CMOS read/write channel chip for hard disk drives that allows drive manufacturers to cut manufacturing costs, reduces power consumption and increase overall data transfer speeds.

Called `Bramante' (part number L6363), the new chip supports data rates up to 750Mbit/s and features advanced signal processing that allows the same channel to be used on a wide range of drives and also with wide tolerance heads and media. Thanks to the use of 0.18-micron CMOS technology, it also reduces power consumption - important for laptop applications - and die costs, allowing very competitive pricing. Moreover, the use of `pure' CMOS technology rather than mixed bipolar-CMOS means that in future it can be integrated with other drive functions to achieve new levels of integration.

Bramante integrates a Partial Response Maximum Likelihood (PRML) read channel with a self-adaptive media noise cancellation scheme, dubbed Media Noise Terminator, to ensure optimum performance over a wide range of data densities and different noise conditions. The benefit of this approach is that it allows leading-edge performance to be achieved with lower tolerances in head and media components, reducing the cost of manufacturing. Additionally, by supporting a broad range of data densities and noise conditions it allows designers to adopt a single platform design for a wide range of drive products, further rationalizing production.

The detector in the Bramante chip is a 16-state Trellis-Viterbi matched to the channel code. A high rate 16/17 MTR code or a lower rate 304/338 code with Enhanced Parity can be chosen by the drive designer to obtain higher speed or better noise performance. Both codes make full use of the self-adaptive detector scheme, with the latter showing more than 2.0dB of signal-to-noise ratio improvement over the now standard EPR4 16/17 one-bit parity channels.

The main benefit of this novel signal processing technique is to allow the use of the same read/write channel across multiple platforms, from the very high density, power sensitive mobile product line to the cost-driven consumer product line with evident reduction in overall manufacturing costs and improved time-to-market. Also by automatically compensating for head and media production spreads the Media Noise Terminator scheme reduces the manufacturing costs by increasing the production yields.

In addition to the new data recovery architecture, Bramante also features a fully synchronous servo detection scheme. An ST proprietary 4/12 coding scheme for servo Gray code paired with a matched Trellis detector can be used to allow better disk formatting compared to today's 1/4 Gray code rates; 1/4 Gray code rates are anyway automatically supported by the Bramante chip to overcome any servo formatting legacy issue. A fully embedded modified Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) burst demodulation scheme provides significant gain in determining head position also reducing the latency of the servo loop.

For hard disk drive manufacturers the above features translate into the possibility to store more data on a single platter by allowing higher BPIs (bits per inch) and especially higher TPIs (tracks per inch). A number of self-testing features together with self-calibrating and self-adapting schemes help reduce final device cost and improve time-to-market for both ST and disk drive makers.

"Achieving such a significant result at first silicon not only underlines ST's commitment to providing a total hardware and firmware system solution for the hard disk drive market, but also demonstrates the formidable resources we have dedicated to making ST the reference supplier in this market," said Franco Berenga, General Manager of STMicroelectronics' Data Storage Division.

The Bramante chip has benefited from ST's research in advanced technologies for data storage and is one of the company's building blocks for the next level of superintegration and performance enhancements.

"By offering a fully functional high-performance CMOS read channel we enable a higher level of system-on-chip integration for our customers - the key to reducing system cost in the high-volume hard disk drive market," said Berenga. "In addition, it is possible to increase the level of miniaturization for the mobile market, including the emerging microdrive, and to improve the system-on-chip performance by optimal partitioning between the different blocks integrated into a single device."

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics is the world's third largest independent semiconductor company. The Company shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. The Company designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) and discrete devices used in a wide variety of microelectronic applications, including telecommunications systems, computer systems, consumer products, automotive products and industrial automation and control systems. In 2000, the Company's net revenues were $7,813.2 million and net earnings were $1,452.1 million. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com.