{PDF} AT Attachment – 8 ATA/ATAPI Architecture Model (ATA8-AAM r3) INCITS Technical Committee T13

The purpose of this standard is to provide a basis for the coordination of ATA standards development and to define requirements common to all ATA technologies and implementations that are essential for compatibility with host ATA application software and device-resident firmware across all ATA transport protocols. These requirements are defined through a reference model that specifies the behavior and abstract structure that is generic to all ATA I/O system implementations.