Intel C2518 FH8065501516710 Data Sheet

Intel

®

 Atom™ Processor C2000 Product Family for Microserver

Datasheet, Vol. 2 of 3

September 2014

254

Order Number: 330061-002US

The SoC provides hardware support for the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI), 

a programming interface for SATA host controllers developed through a joint industry 

effort. AHCI defines transactions between the SATA controller and the software and 

enables advanced performance and usability with SATA. Platforms supporting AHCI 

take advantage of performance features such as no master/slave designation for SATA 

devices—each device is treated as a master—and hardware-assisted native command 

queuing. AHCI requires the appropriate software support (such as, an AHCI driver) and 

for some features, hardware support in the SATA device or additional platform 

hardware.

The SoC supports all of the mandatory features of the Serial ATA Advanced Host 

Controller Interface (AHCI) Revision 1.3 Specification and many optional features, such 

as hardware-assisted native command queuing, aggressive power management, LED 

indicator support, and Hot-Plug through the use of interlock switch support (additional 

platform hardware and software are required depending upon the implementation).

For reliable device removal notification while in AHCI operation without the use of 

interlock switches (surprise removal), interface power management is disabled for the 

associated port. See Section 7.3.1 of the Serial ATA Advanced Host Controller Interface 

(AHCI) Revision 1.3 Specification for more information.

The SATA2 controller in SoC supports external SATA. External SATA utilizes the SATA 

interface outside of the system box. The usage model for this feature must comply with 

the Serial ATA II Cables and Connectors Volume 2 Gold Specification at

www.sata-io.org

. Intel validates two configurations:

1. The cable-up solution involves an internal SATA cable that connects to the SATA 

motherboard connector and spans to a back panel PCI bracket with an eSATA 

connector. A separate eSATA cable is required to connect an eSATA device.

2. The back-panel solution involves running a trace to the I/O back panel and 

connecting a device using an external SATA connector on the board.