Communicating a message request transaction to a logical device

Abstract

A general input/output communication port implements a communication stack that includes a physical layer, a data link layer and a transaction layer. The transaction layer includes assembling a packet header for a message request transaction to one or more logical devices. The packet header includes a format field to indicate the length of the packet header and to further specify whether the packet header includes a data payload, a subset of a type field to indicate the packet header relates to the message request transaction and a message field. The message field includes a message to implement the message request transaction. The message includes at least one message that is selected from a group of messages. The group of messages to include a message to unlock a logical device, a message to reset a logical device, a message to indicate a correctable error condition, a message to indicate an uncorrectable error condition, a message to indicate a fatal error condition, a message to report a bad request packet, a message to indicate power management and a message to emulate an interrupt signal.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a protocol stack including layers to communicate data over an interconnect;   wherein the protocol stack is to assemble a plurality of packets, each of the plurality of packets to include:
 a first field to hold a first value to indicate a first packet of the plurality of packets which is to include a data payload and to hold a second value to indicate a particular packet of the plurality of packets and is not to include a data payload; 
 a type field to indicate a packet type for the particular packet, and 
 a value field to indicate an identifier to be associated with the particular packet. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the packet is a data packet. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the protocol stack including layers comprises a physical layer and a data link layer. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the interconnect includes a communication link. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the interconnect is to support a plurality of devices. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is to operate within a packet-based interconnection architecture. 
     
     
         7 . A method, comprising:
 utilizing a protocol stack including layers to communicate data over an interconnect;   utilizing the protocol stack to assemble a plurality of packets wherein each of the plurality of packets include:
 a first field to hold a first value to indicate a first packet of the plurality of packets is to include a data payload and to hold a second value to indicate a particular packet of the plurality of packets and is not to include a data payload, 
 a type field to indicate a packet type for the particular packet; and 
 a value field to include an identifier to be associated with the particular packet. 
   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein to assemble the packet includes merging a header field and a data payload field. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the data is communicated from a first device to a second device over the interconnect. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a protocol stack including layers to communicate data over an interconnect;   wherein the protocol stack is to assemble a plurality of packets, each of the plurality of packets to include:
 a first field to indicate a format for a packet type; 
 a second field to indicate a transaction completion status; 
 a third field to indicate an identification of a first device which processed the transaction completion in response to a request; and 
 a fourth field to indicate an identification of a second device which initiated the request. 
   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the second field includes a three-bit format field. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10  includes at least one of a cellular telephone, handheld computer, multimedia device, and a digital camera. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the transaction completion status is an indication of a correct receipt of a packet. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the first device includes an endpoint device. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the interconnect is to support networks of devices. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the layers includes a transaction layer. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions for machine execution of a method for:
 utilizing a protocol stack including layers to communicate data over an interconnect;   utilizing the protocol stack to assemble a plurality of packets wherein each of the plurality of packets to include:
 a first field to hold a first value to indicate a first packet of the plurality of packets which is to include a data payload and to hold a second value to indicate a particular packet of the plurality of packets and is not to include a data payload, 
 a type field to indicate a packet type for the particular packet; and 
 a value field to include an identifier to be associated with the particular packet. 
   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein assembling the plurality of packets includes merging a header field and a data payload field within a single packet unit. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the data is communicated from a first device to a second device over the interconnect. 
     
     
         20 . A system-on-a-chip (SoC) embedded within a cellular telephone, comprising:
 a protocol stack including layers to communicate data over an interconnect;   wherein the protocol stack is to assemble a plurality of packets, each of the plurality of packets to include:
 a first field to hold a first value to indicate a first packet of the plurality of packets which is to include a data payload and to hold a second value to indicate a particular packet of the plurality of packets and is not to include a data payload, 
 a type field to indicate a packet type for the particular packet; and 
 a value field to include an identifier to be associated with the particular packet. 
   
     
     
         21 . The SoC of  claim 20 , wherein assembling the packet includes merging a header field and a data payload field within a single packet unit. 
     
     
         22 . The SoC of  claim 20 , wherein the data is communicated from a first device to a second device over the interconnect. 
     
     
         23 . The SoC of  claim 20 , wherein the protocol stack of layers are to communicate data over the interconnect to another SoC in a second cellular phone. 
     
     
         24 . The SoC of  claim 20 , wherein the data payload includes voice data.