Method and apparatus to automate commands spanning regions with inconsistent attributes

A storage device to meet demands for high throughput for host input/output (IO) commands, the storage device comprises:

• a hardware module to receive the host IO command, process the host IO command, determine that there is an exception condition in the host IO command that is not supported by an automation configuration in the hardware module, and forward the host IO command to a message queue;
• and
• a controller to
• retrieve the host IO command from the message queue,
• i) split the host IO command into sub-commands, wherein a sub-command is associated with a region, and ii) change length fields associated with the sub-commands to reflect a length of data in the region,
• set a control register to turn off auto-complete signaling from the hardware module to a host completion queue when the hardware module completes processing the sub-command associated with one region,
• submit a first sub-command to the hardware module for an automation data path in the hardware module to process data transfer for the first sub-command, receive an indication from the hardware module when the hardware module completes processing the first sub-command,
• start a command-transfer process to continue submission of the sub-commands up to a last sub-command, wherein during the command-transfer process the controller updates address fields and an offset for a Physical Region Page list for a memory address fetch hardware to interpret the Physical Region Page list as established by a host,
• prior to submitting the last sub-command, reset the control register to turn on the auto-complete signaling from the hardware module to the host completion queue;
• and
• submit the last sub-command to the hardware module for processing.

A method in a storage device for meeting demands for high throughput for host input/output (IO) commands, the storage device comprises a hardware module and a controller to execute the method comprising:

• receiving, by the hardware module, the host IO command, processing the host IO command, determining that there is an exception condition in the host IO command that is not supported by an automation configuration in the hardware module, and forwarding the host IO command to a message queue;
• retrieving, by a controller, the host IO command from the message queue, splitting the host IO command into sub-commands, wherein a sub-command is associated with a region, and changing length fields associated with the sub-commands to reflect a length of data in the region;
• submitting, by the controller, the sub-commands to the hardware module in sequence for an automation data path in the hardware module to process data transfer for a sub-command, and receiving an indication when the hardware module processes the sub-command;
• and
• providing a completion status to a host completion queue when the hardware module processes the sub-commands in the host IO command.