Apparatus and method for transmitting data serially for use with an advanced technology attachment packet interface (atapi)

A transmission interface in a first device including an Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) for interfacing to a serial bus, the transmission interface comprising:

• a. a transmission ATAPI circuit coupled to the ATAPI generating a first set of signals representative of a change in contents of the ATAPI, the first set of signals being parallel to one another, and using Transistor-Transistor Logic (TTL) voltage levels and single-ended signaling;
• b. a packetizing circuit packetizing the first set of signals to generate a second set of signals representing a packet, the packet having a payload representing the change in the contents of the ATAPI, the second set of signals being parallel to one another and using TTL voltage levels and single-ended signaling;
• and
• c. a converter converting the second set of signals into a third set of signals, the third set of signals being coupled to the serial bus, the third set of signals being serial to one another, and using low voltage level, differential signaling and being capable of being transmitted using fewer wires than available in an IDE bus, the converter supporting a faster data rate than an IDE bus;
• wherein the converter supports a transfer rate at least twice that of the IDE bus.

A method of interfacing between an Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) in a first device and a serial bus coupled between the first device and a second device, the method comprising:

• a. detecting a change in a content of a task file of the ATAPI;
• b. generating a first set of signals to represent the change in the content of the task file, the first set of signals being single-ended and parallel to one another, and using Transistor-Transistor Logic (TTL) voltage level signaling;
• c. generating a second set of signals to represent in a packet format the first set of signals, the second set of signals being single-ended and parallel to one another and using TTL voltage level signaling;
• d. converting the second set of signals into a third set of signals, the third set of signals being serial to one another, differential, and using low voltage level signaling;
• and
• e. coupling the third set of signals to the serial bus, the serial bus allowing a data rate of the third set of signals to be increased without increasing a number of lines of the serial bus.

A transmission interface in a first device including an Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) for interfacing to a bus, the transmission interface comprising:

• an ATAPI transmission circuit for transferring a first parallel set of signals from the ATAPI;
• and
• a converter converting the first parallel set of signals received from the ATAPI transmission circuit into a second serial, packetized set of signals;
• wherein the second serial, packetized set of signals are adapted to be transmitted on fewer lines and at a faster data rate than possible with an Integrated Disc Electronics (IDE) Bus.

A transmission interface in a first device, the transmission interface comprising:

• a parallel interface to an Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI);
• a serial interface to a bus;
• and
• a converter which converts a first set of parallel signals received from the parallel interface to the ATAPI to a second set of serial signals to be transmitted over the serial interface to the bus.