Fibre Channel Protocol Architecture
Fibre Channel Layered Model
8b/10b Encoding
Each 8-bit data byte is encoded into a 10-bit character
before it is transmitted
8b/10b
Parallel/Serial
Encoder
Converter
(SERDES)
Transmitter
Data Byte Parallel Input Serial Output Media Output
FC – 2 FC – 1 FC – 0
The preceding diagram shows the FC-1 encoding process:
How many possible combinations? 256
The data from the transmitting I/O bus is encoded using an 8-bit to 10-bit
(8b/10b) encoding scheme.
The parallel data is converted to serial format.
The serial data is transmitted across the link.
The encoding layer is how we maintain the data stream.
It is a very reliable transport protocol – always done at FC-1 layer.