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) Distances, Operational Parameters
ULPs
FC-3 Common Services FC-4
FC-0 Physical interface
FC-1 Encoding FC-2 Framing & flow control
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.