Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI)

[takman]

I am trying to understand what AHCI is...

Scouring the net, explanations seem all to vague...wiki, articles forums, etc

They say its a "hardware mechanism". What does it look like? A google image search brings back mostly BIOS screenshots.

Is it a piece of hardware or firmware...computer chip? is it built into SATA controllers?

 

[takman]

The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a technical standard defined by Intel that specifies the operation of Serial ATA (SATA) host bus adapters in a non-implementation-specific manner.

The specification describes a system memory structure for computer hardware vendors to exchange data between host system memory and attached storage devices. AHCI gives software developers and hardware designers a standard method for detecting, configuring, and programming SATA/AHCI adapters. AHCI is separate from the SATA 3Gb/s standard, although it exposes SATA's advanced capabilities (such as hot swapping and native command queuing) such that host systems can utilize them.

from the net

i stated that i have read this already.

not helpful.

if you cant expand beyond that, then obviously you dont know.