 |
|
| SATA Product Listings Integrators List Errata/Design Guidelines Naming Guidelines Technical Library Purchase Spec Interoperability Interoperability F.A.Q. v1.0 Documentation v1.1 Documentation v1.2 Documentation v1.3 Documentation v1.4 Documentation Independent Test Labs Certified Logo Program |
Interoperability Frequently Asked Questions
Program Overview Testing Requirements Testing Events & Locations Testing Considerations
Why do we have an Interoperability Program? The purpose of the Program is to ensure compatibility and interoperability of the Serial ATA Specification product implementations. Companies who participate in the Interoperability Program demonstrate a desire to support industry compatibility and are rewarded with a listing on the SATA-IO “Integrators List”. This list has been publicly available on the SATA-IO web site since May 2006 to help identify potential technology partners. Is the SATA-IO Interoperability Program the same as a Compliance Program or a Logo Program? The Interop Program is similar to compliance programs which exist for other technologies, but each, including the SATA-IO Interoperability Program, has unique aspects. Typically, compliance programs are expected to validate 100% of the technical requirements included in the specification. In the case of the SATA-IO Interoperability Program, tests are defined only to audit the requirements which truly impact product interoperability or compatibility. SATA-IO has recently instituted a Certified Logo Program. This is separate from the standard Serial ATA logos in which the SATA-IO maintains and owns, which are used to only indicate membership in SATA-IO. Use of the Serial ATA logo(s) is defined outside the scope of the Interop Program. The Integrators List (IL) is a database on the SATA-IO website which includes information on the products that have passed the specified Serial ATA Interoperability testing. The Integrators List contains both product information and vendor contact information. The Integrators List has been publicly available on the SATA-IO web site since May 2006. What types of products are being tested under the Interoperability Program? Revision 1.3 of the Interoperability Program includes the following usage models: Gen1i products and Gen2i products (i.e. internal 1.5Gb/s and 3Gb/s products). The program includes tests for the following types of Serial ATA products based on these usage models:
What types of product are NOT being tested at this time? As of August 2008, the following product types are examples of those which are not supported for Interoperability Testing: Who manages the Interoperability Program? The Interoperability Program policies and procedures have been developed by participant members of the SATA-IO. The program is managed by the SATA-IO, the organization which maintains all SATA technical specifications. Do I have to be a member of SATA-IO to participate in the Interoperability Program? No, testing is available to non-members. In order for products to be considered for inclusion on the Integrators List, the product under question must have passed the Serial ATA Interoperability testing. Some benefits to being a SATA-IO member with respect to the Interoperability Program are: access to draft test requirements and procedures, opportunity to provide inputs on test requirements and procedures being developed, as well as further opportunities to participate in members only testing events and dry runs. Additionally, testing at Interop Workshops are only available to SATA-IO members although non-members may have their products tested at approved independent test labs. Can my company be involved in development of the Interop Program requirements and testing? As with any other technical or marketing work group within SATA-IO, contributing member companies who have the appropriate resources may participate in developing the Interop Program requirements. For more information on getting your company involved in Interop Program development, please contact the SATA-IO Administration. If my product successfully completes the Interop Testing, does my company obtain access to the Serial ATA logo(s)? If your product passes Interoperability Testing, the approved models are eligible to use the Certified Logos. Information on the Certified Logo Program can be found on the Certified Logo Program web page. What is the difference between a "Plugfest" and "Interoperability Workshop"? SATA-IO defines Plugfest as an event where product compatibility testing occurs which may or may not use testing from a pre-defined test procedure called an MOI; it is up to the participants to define testing so it might be as rigorous as complete MOI defined tests or as simple as a basic plug and try test. In any case, SATA-IO collects no results. Conversely, an Interoperability Workshop is a completely structured testing event where all testing conforms to approved or proposed test requirements and the MOI’s procedures. For more information on Interoperability Workshops see Section 3.3 of the Serial ATA Interoperability Program Policy document. How is the information collected at an “Interoperability Workshop” or “IW” used? Test results collected at the IW serves one or more of following purposes: Necessarily all of these have to be done at what is essentially the same time. Why do people continue to confuse the Plugfest and Interoperability Workshops? The confusion between the two events probably happens because they have been scheduled at the same hotel and in the same week even though they are actually separate events with distinct purposes and could be held apart -- but keeping them together provides for the most efficient use of SATA-IO resources. The majority of the resource to staff the events is from SATA-IO member companies and separate events would require a significant increase in demand of that valuable resource. I am a test vendor. How do I get an MOI approved? To get an MOI approved, there are two main requirements: I still have other questions, who can I contact to get answers? The SATA-IO maintains an active team to manage the Interoperability Program. Your questions can be submitted to the SATA-IO Administration. What test documents are available for reference? The SATA-IO maintains a list of documents, including the specification and test procedures, that are the required guideline documents for the Interoperability Program. The list includes: It is the responsibility of the submitting company to be versed in these documents prior to submitting a product for Interoperability testing. Upon ratification of the new documentation, the updated material will replace the previous revisions of testing. What are the Product Test Requirements? The Interoperability Program's Unified Test Description defines the tests used to verify product adherence to a subset of specification requirements governed by the Interoperability requirements and test procedures. Each product submission will be tested in two areas:
The first set of test requirements consist of a specific subset of specification requirements that are critical for product interoperability. Each requirement includes an expected behavior (as defined in Serial ATA Revision 2.6), measurement requirements and clear pass/fail criteria. The testing requirements are directly tied to the defined test procedures in the Serial ATA Interoperability Program Revision 1.3 Unified Test Document revision 1.0. What defines the system interoperability test requirements? System interoperability testing is a defined test scenario designed to verify real-world behavior of a Serial ATA device in a system environment. The product under test will be inserted into the interoperability test suite to verify expected behavior in a Serial ATA platform environment. The system interoperability testing is defined within the Serial ATA Interoperability Program Revision 1.0 Unified Test Document revision 1.01. What defines the Phy test requirements? The Phy test requirements are a reference to the requirements associated with verifying a portion of the electrical characteristics of a product. These requirements are a relative to a subset of existing Serial ATA specification requirements as mentioned above. Where do I get the requirements documentation to complete the Interoperability Program? The documentation associated with testing requirements and procedures are available publicly on the SATA-IO Web site. Draft materials for new testing requirements and procedures are available to members on the SATA-IO Logo Work Group Web site. I noticed there are different revisions of testing requirements documented. Which tests are required for my product? The latest approved set of Interop Testing requirements will be those publicly available per the above reference. Over time, the Interoperability Program documentation may be updated to modify existing test requirements or add new test requirements through the advancement of Serial ATA technology and development of the specification. With that in mind, it is expected that this growth will cause the Interop documentation to be revised on a major release level. Upon release of a new major release level, there will be a 60 day phase out period of any previous revisions of the testing requirements. It will be required that after the 60 day phase out period, that the test lab will verify all subsequent products against the newly approved revision of testing requirements. How do I request that my product be tested? There are two mechanisms for testing products for IL inclusion: Final consideration for inclusion in the IL is based on the results from one or more of the above mechanisms. How does the Serial ATA Interoperability Workshop work? The SATA-IO will host an Interoperability Workshop approximately twice a year in geographically appropriate areas. Approved Independent Test Labs will be able to participate. Final selection for staffing of the test suites will be done by the SATA-IO. The Interoperability Workshops will involve several test suites covering the major areas of testing included in the Interoperability Program. Products will be scheduled for testing in each of the appropriate suites for execution of the entire Interoperability Program testing throughout the week of the event. Will I be able to get my product tested even if I cannot attend the Interop Workshops? Yes, there are currently several test labs approved for different areas of testing. More information regarding the approved test labs can be found on the SATA-IO Web site. I am an Independent Test Lab, how do I get approval to do testing? SATA-IO is not seeking nor accepting applications for test labs other than those that are already approved at this time. Do I have to request testing for all of my products, even if they are similar? No. The SATA-IO Interop Program has defined some policies relative to "qualification by similarity" where there are products which may fall within a family through similarities and are not differentiated by any Serial ATA interface or protocol changes. Details may be found in the "Qualification by Similarity" section of the Interoperability Program Policy document. What modifications to a product or differences between products are acceptable without requiring retest? See the "Requirements for Retesting" section of the Interoperability Program Policy document. What modifications or differences are not allowed? What re-testing is required? See the "Requirements for Retesting" section of the Interoperability Program Policy document. What happens when my product passes the testing? What happens if it fails? Once it has been determined that a product has passed the requirements for the Interoperability Program and is approved for listing on the Integrators List, the samples of that product must be kept (by the SATA-IO or appropriate test lab) for at least 6 months. Information about the product will be obtained from the vendor and released onto the Integrators List, located on the SATA-IO Web site. If it has been determined that a product for some reason has failed one or more tests and will not be approved for the Integrators List, the product samples will be returned to the vendor. In either case, the summary test results used for determination of pass or fail will be released to the vendor for the appropriate product under test. When and how will I receive the SATA-IO test results for my product? Once results are gathered and organized completely for a specific product, it is expected that the certification or approval process of that product is fairly short and results would be provided in a timely manor. How can I list a product that has already been listed by a different vendor? Products may be retested for Integrators List posting by a different vendor or reseller. In these cases products being listed again, with different vendor or model information, must complete the 'Retest Form' available from SATA-IO. SATA-IO will assign the same TID to the retested product as the initial TID assigned to the product. The retested product must also complete testing at either an approved test lab or Interop Workshop. The test results, along with the Retest Form will be reviewed by SATA-IO. Upon approval of the test results, the retested product will be posted on the Integrators List with the same TID as the pre-approved product. This allows the retested product to leverage tests previously listed or submitted. A second listing for the retested product will be added to the Integrators List with the new vendor information and model information. The same TID as the pre-approved product will be included in the retested Integrators List posting.
|
|
 |
||
| Contact Us | Site Search |Site Map | Privacy Policy | Members Login | Home | ©2010 SATA-IO All Rights Reserved |