LSI Delivers World's Fastest Read Channel, Achieving 4.0GHz Data Rates for Enterprise Hard Disk Drives

New read channel and physical layer technologies bolster industry's broadest portfolio of HDD components; enable superior data rates and signal integrity

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Sept. 17, 2008 -- DISKCON USA -- LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI - News) today announced that it has extended the industry's broadest portfolio of system-on-a-chip (SoC) components for hard disk drives (HDDs) with the introduction of new read channel and physical layer (PHY) technologies.

The new 65-nanometer (nm) LSI(TM) TrueStore® RC8900 iterative decoding read channel offers industry-leading performance with data transfer rates up to 4.0GHz, a 50 percent increase over the previous product. The new 65nm LSI TrueStore PHY8900 delivers a greater than 20 percent performance increase over the previous generation and offers compatibility with 6Gb/s SAS and SATA, as well as 4.25G Fibre Channel (FC-PI-2) protocols.

"Storage industry participants are preparing for the transition from 3Gb/s SAS to 6Gb/s SAS interfaces beginning in 2009," according to David Reinsel, IDC group vice president, storage and semiconductors. "LSI remains ahead of this transition curve with its new TrueStore read channel for performance-optimized enterprise-class HDDs that will support HDD data rates enabled by the new 6Gb/s SAS interface."

At 4.0GHz, the RC8900 establishes a new industry benchmark for read channel performance. The boost in data transfer rates translates to a significant improvement in areal density for nearline storage applications. The RC8900 also shares a common code set with the RC8800 desktop and RC2500 notebook read channel technologies from LSI, providing customers with quick, low-cost drive integration for a reduced time-to-market.

"HDD manufacturers rely on LSI to deliver high-performance storage ICs that respond to a rapidly changing market," said Ruediger Stroh, executive vice president, Storage Peripherals Group, LSI. "Our new high-performance read channel and PHY technologies have strengthened our relationships with the industry's top HDD manufacturers and have contributed to multiple design wins in the enterprise HDD market."

The new PHY8900 offers HDD manufacturers a 20 percent performance improvement and enhanced signal processing resulting in reduced output jitter for an exceptionally clean signal to the host. Additionally, enhanced receiver performance, with adaptive equalization, allows restores of extremely noisy data without errors. Simplified debugging is also enabled with advanced test features including a firmware-controllable signal analyzer which allows HDD makers to observe, debug and easily clean up signals without requiring expensive test equipment.

The LSI TrueStore family of ICs for hard disk and tape drive components, and custom silicon solutions include highly integrated high-performance storage SoCs, read channels, preamplifiers, serial PHYs, custom ARM® core processors and hard disk drive controller IP. By offering a broad portfolio of integrated SoC components, LSI enables its customers to address all segments of the HDD market -- from mission-critical enterprise applications and high-capacity desktop PCs to low-power laptops and a variety of consumer electronic devices.

About LSI

LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI - News) is a leading provider of innovative silicon, systems and software technologies that enable products which seamlessly bring people, information and digital content together. The company offers a broad portfolio of capabilities and services including custom and standard product ICs, adapters, systems and software that are trusted by the world's best known brands to power leading solutions in the Storage and Networking markets. More information is available at http://www.lsi.com.