Embodiments of the invention utilize a universal serial bus (USB) host controller to traverse an asynchronous data transfer list to identify data transfers to execute. The asynchronous data transfer list may include a plurality of header nodes, each header node to identify data transfers to one of a plurality of devices operatively coupled to an electronic device. The USB host controller may execute an extended sleep mode in response to identifying no data transfers to execute and receiving an indication that the system processor is in a sleep state. The USB host controller may exit the extended sleep mode in response to receiving an indication that the processor is in non-sleep state.