Fibre Channel Protocol Architecture
Fibre Channel Layered Model
FC-0: Physical Interface
FC-0 specifies the physical characteristics of the link:
Cables and connectors
Data rates
Transmitter and receiver functions
Signaling protocol
Parallel to serial conversion (SERDES)
ULPs
Distances, Operational Parameters
FC-4
FC-3 Common Services
FC-2 Framing & flow control
FC-1 Encoding
FC-0 Physical interface
FC-0 specifies the physical link of the channel and data transmission
functions:
FC-0 deals with the physics of transmitting and receiving a signal at
different transfer rates.
It specifies the format (physical signalling protocols) of the optical or
electrical signals and how transmitters and receivers work for all media
types.
It also specifies the process of converting the parallel bus signals used
by some hosts and targets to the serial signals used by Fibre Channel.
This function is called serializer-deserializer, or SERDES.
When there is a problem with a GBIC or fibre link, it is an FC-0 problem.