Methods and apparatuses for processing I/O requests of data storage devices

An apparatus for processing requests for a data storage device, comprising:

• a request receiver to receive a plurality of requests, wherein at least one of the plurality of requests is an isochronous request with a first deadline value;
• a logic module to calculate a second deadline value for the isochronous request, wherein the second deadline value is related to an amount of time which transpires between creation of the isochronous request and the calculation of the second deadline value;
• and
• an issuance module to transfer the isochronous request if the second deadline value is less than or equal to a threshold value.

A method of prioritizing isochronous and asynchronous requests for a data storage device, comprising:

• receiving a plurality of requests including at least a first isochronous request with a first deadline;
• placing the first isochronous request into an isochronous queue;
• sorting requests in the isochronous queue according to respective deadline values associated with the requests;
• receiving at least one of an additional asynchronous request and an isochronous request;
• placing asynchronous requests into a designated asynchronous queue;
• calculating a second deadline value of the first isochronous request based on at least one of an amount of time that has transpired since the creation of the request and an amount of time since a time that the request was placed in the queue;
• and
• issuing the first isochronous request if the second deadline value is less than or equal to a threshold value.