Effective gear-shifting by queue based implementation

An apparatus, comprising:

• a storage device;
• a host;
• and
• a connection configured to couple the storage device with the host,
• wherein the host comprises:
• a host PHY configured to communicate with the storage device over the connection in a plurality of communication modes, each communication mode being different from all other communication modes;
• a plurality of queues corresponding to the plurality of communication modes applicable to the connection;
• and
• a request controller configured to interface with the host PHY,
• wherein the request controller is configured to
• receive a plurality of requests targeting the storage device,
• determine a communication mode of each request,
• send each request to the queue corresponding to the communication mode of that request,
• select a queue based on a number of requests in each queue, and
• provide the requests of the selected queue to the host PHY for transmission of the provided requests to the storage device by the host PHY over the connection.

A method of an apparatus comprising a host configured to access a storage device over a connection, the host comprising a plurality of queues corresponding to a plurality of communication modes applicable to the connection, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a request controller of the host, a plurality of requests targeting the storage device;
• determining, by the request controller, a communication mode of each request;
• sending, by the request controller, each request to the queue corresponding to the communication mode of that request;
• selecting, by the request controller, a queue based on a number of requests in each queue;
• providing, by the request controller, the requests of the selected queue to a host PHY of the host for transmission of the provided requests to the storage device by the host PHY over the connection.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a host configured to access a storage device over a connection, the host comprising:
• a host PHY configured to communicate with the storage device over the connection in a plurality of communication modes, each communication mode being different from all other communication modes;
• a plurality of queues corresponding to plurality of communication modes applicable to the connection;
• and
• a request controller configured to interface with the host PHY,
• wherein the request controller comprises:
• means for receiving a plurality of requests targeting the storage device;
• means for determining a communication mode of each request;
• means for sending each request to the queue corresponding to the communication mode of that request;
• means for selecting a queue based on a number of requests in each queue;
• and
• means for providing the requests of the selected queue to the host PHY for transmission of the provided requests to the storage device by the host PHY over the connection.