System and method for abstracting SATA and/or SAS storage media devices via a full duplex queued command interface to increase performance, lower host overhead, and simplify scaling storage media devices and systems

What is this patent about?

’767 is related to the field of storage device interfaces and data transport protocols. Specifically, it addresses the limitations of legacy SATA and SAS protocols, which are rooted in older parallel bus architectures. These traditional interfaces often impose significant overhead on the host processor, struggle with true full-duplex communication, and create complexities when a host must manage a heterogeneous mix of drive types and port expansion hardware.

The underlying idea behind ’767 is to decouple the host from the specific physical and logical constraints of SATA and SAS by pushing those legacy protocols to the extreme edge of the network. By using a performance-centric abstraction protocol, the host can communicate with a pool of storage devices using high-level commands that are agnostic of the underlying drive type. This shift allows the system to handle low-level tasks like error recovery, flow control, and command translation locally at the drive interface rather than taxing the central host resources.

The claims of ’767 focus on a routable packet-switched network architecture that utilizes a master controller and at least one edge controller. The master controller interfaces with the host and translates requests into a full-duplex abstraction protocol that supports comprehensive command queuing. The edge controller sits between this network and the physical storage media, managing the specific SATA or SAS signaling while also possessing the capability to act as a master to other downstream edge controllers for scalable routing.

In practice, this system functions by wrapping storage commands into routable packets that can be carried over standard high-speed fabrics like Ethernet or PCIe. When the host issues a large data request, the master controller breaks it down into the abstraction protocol, and the edge controller handles the granular execution on the physical disk. This creates a link-agnostic fabric where storage devices can be addressed by logical identifiers or unique global IDs, allowing for dynamic discovery and seamless scaling across multiple chassis or locations.

This approach differs from prior solutions by eliminating the need for the host to manage the SATA-Transport-Protocol or complex SAS expander hierarchies directly. By implementing a full-duplex queued interface at the abstraction layer, the invention prevents the command-flushing issues common in SATA Native Command Queuing and allows for the interleaving of read and write operations. The result is a storage fabric that behaves like a modern network, offloading the heavy lifting of protocol management to specialized hardware at the edge.