Patent ID: 7643410
Filing Date: 2010-01-05
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. An apparatus comprising: a first port to receive commands from a host using a first protocol, wherein the first protocol is Serial Advanced Technology Attachment Tunneled Protocol (STP) protocol; a second port to forward commands to a device using a second protocol, wherein the second protocol is Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) protocol; and an affiliation manager to monitor commands and responses for an established connection between the host and the device and to automatically close the connection upon detecting no pending commands associated with the device upon detecting an access request from another host, wherein the device is to be coupled to the host through a port multiplier, the port multiplier allowing the host to communicate with a plurality of devices on the established connection to the port multiplier and the affiliation manager to monitor pending commands associated with the plurality of devices, and wherein the affiliation manager monitors pending commands through a plurality of registers, with each register associated with one of the devices and each register having a bit per pending command, said bit to be set upon detecting a command issued to the device and to be cleared upon detecting that the command is no longer pending.