Serial storage protocol compatible frame conversion, at least in part being compatible with SATA and one packet being compatible with PCIe protocol

1. An apparatus comprising:

circuitry to at least one of:

convert, at least in part, at least one serial storage protocol compatible frame into at least one packet that is compatible, at least in part, with a multi-lane input/output (I/O) protocol, the at least one packet to be transmitted via a physical layer that is compatible, at least in part, with the multi-lane I/O protocol, the at least one packet comprising frame information structure (FIS) information of the at least one frame; and

convert, at least in part, the at least one packet into the at least one frame;

wherein:

the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part, with serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) protocol;

the at least one packet is compatible, at least in part, with a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) protocol; and

the circuitry is to execute at least one conversion process to convert the at least one frame into the at least one packet, the at least one conversion process being executed as part of a protocol stack that includes a SATA transport layer and a PCIe transaction layer.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

the at least one conversion process is executed intermediate to the SATA transport layer and the PCIe transaction layer in the stack.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

the FIS information is comprised, at least in part, in at least one payload of at least one PCIe vendor defined message (VDM) packet.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

in accordance with the multi-lane protocol, link speed and link width are to be negotiated;

the at least one process is to negotiate, at least in part, the link speed and the link width; and

the at least one process is to indicate, at least in part, to at least one serial storage protocol process a negotiated bandwidth that is different from an actual bandwidth that results, at least in part, from the link speed and the link width, the negotiated bandwidth being in accordance with a serial storage protocol with which the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein:

the circuitry is to manage, at least in part, at least one state of at least one link of the physical layer so as to maintain compatibility with the serial storage protocol; and

the at least one state comprises at least one of the following:

power state; and

communication state.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

the multi-lane protocol employs full duplex communication;

the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part, with a serial storage protocol that employs half-duplex communication; and

the circuitry is to temporarily store, at least in part, the at least one frame to emulate, at least in part, the half-duplex communication.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

the circuitry is to manage, at least in part, communication status notifications to at least one serial storage process so as to maintain, at least in part, compatibility with a serial storage protocol with which the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part.

8. A method comprising:

at least one of the following subparagraphs (a) and (b):

(a) converting, at least in part, by circuitry, at least one serial storage protocol compatible frame into at least one packet that is compatible, at least in part, with a multi-lane input/output (I/O) protocol, the at least one packet to be transmitted via a physical layer that is compatible, at least in part, with the multi-lane I/O protocol, the at least one packet comprising frame information structure (FIS) information of the at least one frame; and

(b) converting, at least in part, the at least one packet into the at least one frame;

wherein:

the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part, with serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) protocol;

the at least one packet is compatible, at least in part, with a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) protocol; and

the method also comprises executing at least one conversion process to convert the at least one frame into the at least one packet, the at least one conversion process being executed as part of a protocol stack that includes a SATA transport layer and a PCIe transaction layer.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the at least one conversion process is executed intermediate to the SATA transport layer and the PCIe transaction layer in the stack.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the FIS information is comprised, at least in part, in at least one payload of at least one PCIe vendor defined message (VDM) packet.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

in accordance with the multi-lane protocol, link speed and link width are to be negotiated;

the at least one process is to negotiate, at least in part, the link speed and the link width; and

the at least one process indicates, at least in part, to at least one serial storage protocol process a negotiated bandwidth that is different from an actual bandwidth that results, at least in part, from the link speed and the link width, the negotiated bandwidth being in accordance with a serial storage protocol with which the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

the method comprises managing, at least in part, at least one state of at least one link of the physical layer so as to maintain compatibility with the serial storage protocol; and

the at least one state comprises at least one of the following:

power state; and

communication state.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the multi-lane protocol employs full duplex communication;

the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part, with a serial storage protocol that employs half-duplex communication; and

the method comprises temporarily storing, at least in part, the at least one frame to emulate, at least in part, the half-duplex communication.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the method comprises managing, at least in part, communication status notifications to at least one serial storage process so as to maintain, at least in part, compatibility with a serial storage protocol with which the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part.

15. Computer-readable memory storing one or more instructions that when executed by a machine result in performance of operations comprising:

at least one of the following subparagraphs (a) and (b):

(a) converting, at least in part, at least one serial storage protocol compatible frame into at least one packet that is compatible, at least in part, with a multi-lane input/output (I/O) protocol, the at least one packet to be transmitted via a physical layer that is compatible, at least in part, with the multi-lane I/O protocol, the at least one packet comprising frame information structure (FIS) information of the at least one frame; and

(b) converting, at least in part, the at least one packet into the at least one frame;

wherein:

the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part, with serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) protocol;

the at least one packet is compatible, at least in part, with a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) protocol; and

the operations also comprise executing at least one conversion process to convert the at least one frame into the at least one packet, the at least one conversion process being executed as part of a protocol stack that includes a SATA transport layer and a PCIe transaction layer.

16. The computer-readable memory of claim 15 , wherein:

the at least one conversion process is executed intermediate to the SATA transport layer and the PCIe transaction layer in the stack.

17. The computer-readable memory of claim 15 , wherein:

the FIS information is comprised, at least in part, in at least one payload of at least one PCIe vendor defined message (VDM) packet.

18. The computer-readable memory of claim 15 , wherein:

in accordance with the multi-lane protocol, link speed and link width are to be negotiated;

the at least one process is to negotiate, at least in part, the link speed and the link width; and

the at least one process is to indicate, at least in part, to at least one serial storage protocol process a negotiated bandwidth that is different from an actual bandwidth that results, at least in part, from the link speed and the link width, the negotiated bandwidth being in accordance with a serial storage protocol with which the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part.

19. The computer-readable memory of claim 18 , wherein:

the operations comprise managing, at least in part, at least one state of at least one link of the physical layer so as to maintain compatibility with the serial storage protocol; and

the at least one state comprises at least one of the following:

power state; and

communication state.

20. The computer-readable memory of claim 15 , wherein:

the multi-lane protocol employs full duplex communication;

the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part, with a serial storage protocol that employs half-duplex communication; and

the operations comprise temporarily storing, at least in part, the at least one frame to emulate, at least in part, the half-duplex communication.

21. The computer-readable memory of claim 15 , wherein:

the operations also comprise managing, at least in part, communication status notifications to at least one serial storage process so as to maintain, at least in part, compatibility with a serial storage protocol with which the at least one frame is compatible, at least in part.