Application Design Center - Desktop / Notebook

Circuit Protection of eSATA Port

Solutions

• SP3010
• SP3003

Design Notes:

Protection Application:

The data signals used in external SATA Interface ports have a data rate of 1,500 Mbps (Gen I) and up to 3,000 Mbps (Gen II). The signal lines to be protected from ESD include Rx+, Rx-, Tx+ and Tx-.

Solution Description:

Due to the extremely high rate of data transfer, the capacitance of the ESD suppressor must be minimized. As shown at the left, low-capacitance (0.45pF) silicon protection arrays can be used.

Companion Solutions:

Other form factors such as MSOP-10 (SP3003-04ATG - pictured below) are available, depending on the design preference of the design engineer.

Regulatory Issues:

The IEC 61000-4-2 will be the most appropriate standard that applies for this port. It supplies a test method for verifying that the end product is not susceptible to ESD events.