LINK ROLE DETERMINATION IN A DUAL-MODE PERIPHERAL COMPONENT INTERCONNECT EXPRESS (PCIE) DEVICE

Link role determination in a dual-mode Peripheral Component Interconnect express (PCIe) device is disclosed. In this regard, determining a link role for a dual-mode PCIe device involves configuring the dual-mode PCIe device to operate in a root complex (RC) mode or an endpoint mode. The dual-mode PCIe device first performs a configuration and initiation sequence on a wire-based PCIe link in the RC mode. If the configuration and initiation sequence on the wire-based PCIe link is unsuccessful, then the dual-mode PCIe device invokes a random delay and switches to the endpoint mode at expiration of the random delay. By determining a link role of the dual-mode PCIe device based on the configuration and initiation sequence, it is possible to configure dynamically the dual-mode PCIe device to operate in the RC mode or the endpoint mode, thus allowing flexible configuration of the dual-mode PCIe device based on various application scenarios.