diff --git a/docs/src/concepts.dox b/docs/src/concepts.dox
index 725be9b52..ed37ed349 100644
--- a/docs/src/concepts.dox
+++ b/docs/src/concepts.dox
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@
  * ChibiOS/RT APIs are all named following this convention:
  * @a ch\<group\>\<action\>\<suffix\>().
  * The possible groups are: @a Sys, @a Sch, @a Time, @a VT, @a Thd, @a Sem,
- * @a Mtx, @a Cond, @a Evt, @a Msg, @a IQ, @a OQ, @a HQ, @a FDD, @a HDD,
- * @a Dbg, @a Heap, @a Pool.
+ * @a Mtx, @a Cond, @a Evt, @a Msg, @a IQ, @a OQ, @a IO, @a FDD, @a Dbg,
+ * @a Heap, @a Pool.
  *
  * @section api_suffixes API Names Suffixes
  * The suffix can be one of the following:
diff --git a/docs/src/main.dox b/docs/src/main.dox
index ea30d420f..2e76e0a75 100644
--- a/docs/src/main.dox
+++ b/docs/src/main.dox
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@
  * you should look at the systems as to a set of abstract C++ classes (even if
  * implemented in C). Specific device drivers can use/extend the interfaces
  * and implement them.<br>
- * This system has the advantage to make the access to the device drivers
+ * This system has the advantage to make the access to channels
  * independent from the implementation logic. As example, an I/O channel
  * interface can hide the access to a serial driver, to a networking socket
  * and so on.
diff --git a/readme.txt b/readme.txt
index 78db7352e..6d8c1c9c2 100644
--- a/readme.txt
+++ b/readme.txt
@@ -75,6 +75,15 @@ Win32-MinGW            - ChibiOS/RT simulator and demo into a WIN32 process,
 - FIX: Found new instances of the obsolete function chSysGetTime() in the
   C++ wrapper and in the WEB demo (bug 2772237)(backported in stable branch).
 - FIX: Fixed macro in test.h (bug 2781176)(backported in stable branch).
+- NEW: Abstract I/O Channels mechanism introduced. This mechanism allows to
+  access I/O resources through a standard interface and hides implementation
+  details. The existing FullDuplexDrivers were modified to offer a standard
+  channel interface to the applications.
+- NEW: The I/O queues code was improved, now there are 2 separate structures:
+  InputQueue and OutputQueue. There are some changes in the queue APIs
+  in order to make them more symmetrical and functional. Improved the queues
+  documentation. Some of the changes were needed in order to support the new
+  channels mechanism as a backend for queued serial drivers.
 - NEW: Added a code coverage analysis application under ./tests/coverage.
 - NEW: Added more test cases in order to improve the test suite code coverage
   (it was 74% in version 1.2.0).
@@ -82,10 +91,6 @@ Win32-MinGW            - ChibiOS/RT simulator and demo into a WIN32 process,
   real context switch time, previous benchmarks introduced too much overhead
   to the measurement. The STM32 performs the context switch in under 1.48uS.
 - NEW: Added architecture name strings to the port code.
-- NEW: The I/O queues code was improved, now there are 2 separate structures:
-  InputQueue and Output queues. There are some changes int the queue APIs
-  in order to make them more symmetrical and functional. Improved the queues
-  documentation.
 - CHANGE: Removed the half duplex queues and half duplex serial drivers because
   it was never extensively tested. The code is still available but not as part
   of the kernel.
diff --git a/src/chserial.c b/src/chserial.c
index 4dac892f8..65179689d 100644
--- a/src/chserial.c
+++ b/src/chserial.c
@@ -28,6 +28,20 @@
 
 #if CH_USE_SERIAL_FULLDUPLEX
 
+/*
+ * Interface implementation, the following functions just invoke the equivalent
+ * queue-level function or macro.
+ */
+static bool_t putwouldblock(void *instance) {
+
+  return chOQIsFull(&((FullDuplexDriver *)instance)->d2.oqueue);
+}
+
+static bool_t getwouldblock(void *instance) {
+
+  return chIQIsEmpty(&((FullDuplexDriver *)instance)->d2.iqueue);
+}
+
 static msg_t put(void *instance, uint8_t b, systime_t timeout) {
 
   return chOQPutTimeout(&((FullDuplexDriver *)instance)->d2.oqueue, b, timeout);
@@ -49,7 +63,7 @@ static size_t read(void *instance, uint8_t *buffer, size_t n) {
 }
 
 static const struct FullDuplexDriverVMT vmt = {
-  {put, get},
+  {putwouldblock, getwouldblock, put, get},
   {write, read},
   {}
 };
diff --git a/src/include/channels.h b/src/include/channels.h
index d3d1f5d47..2ff20b1ad 100644
--- a/src/include/channels.h
+++ b/src/include/channels.h
@@ -31,6 +31,16 @@
  * @brief @p BaseChannel specific methods.
  */
 struct _base_channel_methods {
+  /**
+   * @brief Channel output check.
+   * @see chIOPutWouldBlock()
+   */
+  bool_t (*putwouldblock)(void *instance);
+  /**
+   * @brief Channel input check.
+   * @see chIOGetWouldBlock()
+   */
+  bool_t (*getwouldblock)(void *instance);
   /**
    * @brief Channel put method with timeout specification.
    * @see chIOPut()
@@ -76,6 +86,30 @@ typedef struct {
   struct _base_channel_data d0;
 } BaseChannel;
 
+/**
+ * @brief Channel output check.
+ * @details This function verifies if a subsequent @p chIOPut() would block.
+ *
+ * @param[in] ip pointer to a @p BaseChannel or derived class
+ * @return The output queue status:
+ * @retval FALSE if the output queue has space and would not block a write
+ *         operation.
+ * @retval TRUE if the output queue is full and would block a write operation.
+ */
+#define chIOPutWouldBlock(ip) ((ip)->vmt->m0.putwouldblock(ip))
+
+/**
+ * @brief Channel input check.
+ * @details This function verifies if a subsequent @p chIOGett() would block.
+ *
+ * @param[in] ip pointer to a @p BaseChannel or derived class
+ * @return The input queue status:
+ * @retval FALSE if the input queue contains data and would not block a read
+ *         operation.
+ * @retval TRUE if the input queue is empty and would block a read operation.
+ */
+#define chIOGetWouldBlock(ip) ((ip)->vmt->m0.getwouldblock(ip))
+
 /**
  * @brief Channel blocking byte write.
  * @details This function writes a byte value to a channel. If the channel
diff --git a/src/include/serial.h b/src/include/serial.h
index 9bb6c4f92..08ddf61fe 100644
--- a/src/include/serial.h
+++ b/src/include/serial.h
@@ -136,6 +136,24 @@ extern "C" {
 }
 #endif
 
+/**
+ * @brief Direct output check on a @p FullDuplexDriver.
+ * @details This function bypasses the indirect access to the channel and
+ *          checks directly the output queue. This is faster but cannot
+ *          be used to check different channels implementations.
+ * @see chIOPutWouldBlock()
+ */
+#define chFDDPutWouldBlock(sd) chOQIsFull(&(sd)->d2.oqueue)
+
+/**
+ * @brief Direct input check on a @p FullDuplexDriver.
+ * @details This function bypasses the indirect access to the channel and
+ *          checks directly the input queue. This is faster but cannot
+ *          be used to check different channels implementations.
+ * @see chIOGetWouldBlock()
+ */
+#define chFDDGetWouldBlock(sd) chIQIsEmpty(&(sd)->d2.iqueue)
+
 /**
  * @brief Direct blocking write to a @p FullDuplexDriver.
  * @details This function bypasses the indirect access to the channel and