Case Study: Global Unichip Corporation achieves low-power, high-performance SSD SoC and first-pass silicon success with Synopsys DesignWare SATA IP

GUC Delivers Low Power, High-Performance Solid State Drive SoC Platform with DesignWare SATA IP

Global Unichip Corporation (GUC), a Taiwan-based full-service SoC design foundry, set out to develop the GP5080 SSD SoC for low-power, high-performance mobile storage (notebooks, MIDs, high-speed pen drives). Faced with an aggressive six-month time-to-market window, GUC needed a silicon-proven, low-power, small-area SATA IP solution so its team could focus on the platform while meeting strict power, area and schedule targets.

GUC selected Synopsys DesignWare SATA IP (controller, PHY and verification IP), whose PHY delivered 50% lower power and 30% smaller area versus competitors and provided integrated controller/PHY interoperability and advanced test capabilities. The solution enabled quick integration, first-pass silicon success, and the required system throughput (120+ MB/s read, 80+ MB/s write), reduced integration effort and helped GUC strengthen its position in the SSD market.

Global Unichip Corporation

Richard Tseng

Product Manager