I am designing a product using a 6747 DSP (using all 3 McASPs so I can't use the 6748) and I require SATA support. This product is replacing an older design that uses a 6713 connected to a PATA hard drive.
I have considered connecting a PATA to SATA bridge chip to the 6747 to accomplish this but I don't see anything but the Marvell 88SA8040. Since my product will be in production for the next 10 years I need something that will be around for a while also.
I am also considering adding a 6748 to the board and using it as if it were a SATA adapter chip (wasting a few dollars on this design is not a big deal if it can get me to market quicker), but I dont want to use Linux to drive it as I need a fast boot time (7 seconds) and no external SDRAM.
I see references to chip support libraries for the 6748 SATA interface but I also see a lot of unanswered questions about it not working all the time.
Are there any other chips from TI that I should consider?
Do you have any recommendations or warnings for me concerning SATA implementation on this 6747 based board I am designing?
thanks,
-howy