The new CE-ATAinterface standard for handheld devices and consumer electronic portables is quickly emerging as the most promising storage interface standard today. Replacing SATA, CE-ATA addresses many of the requirements inherent in small, form-factor drives, which include low pin count, low voltage, power efficiency, cost effectiveness, integration efficiency, and of course, the physical size of the hard drive itself.

The disk-drive storage market is at a critical juncture as it moves forward with the adoption of CE-ATA. This paper examines the history of storage interface standards, how the PATA/SATA interface evolved, and more recently how CE-ATApromises to dramatically change the interface storage landscape as we know it.