Overview
The FC Physical Interfaces (FC-PI) standard defines the requirements for a physical layer. It considers
all aspects of transmit, receive, and cable-plant performance requirements for optical and electrical
links. The FC-PI standard has been modified to support new physical-layer variants that operate at
higher data rates than those specified in FC-PI-2. The standard enables interoperability of transmitter
devices, receiver devices, interconnects, and components from different manufacturers. New
variants include support for an 800 MB/s data rate. The previous implementation by Brocade was
to use IDLE for Link Init and as fill words, which works for 1-Gb, 2-Gb, 4-Gb, and most 8-Gb
devices. However, some of the new 8-Gb devices have problems with the IDLE/IDLE sequence at
8 Gb. 8-Gb switches, HBAs, and smaller mid-range 8-Gb storage devices are using the IDLE/IDLE
sequences without any problems. Some of the new 8-Gb devices require that the ARB (FF)/ARB
(FF) sequence have successful Link Initialization. Brocade has developed an implementation of ARB
(FF)/ARB (FF) for initialization and fill words. The portcfgfillword command, first introduced
in Fabric OS 6.1.2, configures the ARB(FF)/ARB(FF) implementation.
portCfgFillWord command
The portCfgFillWord command configures the fill word for a single 8-Gb FC port.
• Syntax: portcfgfillword [slotnumber/]portnumber, mode
• Description: Use this command to configure the fill word for an 8-Gb FC port. (It does not
apply to a non-8-Gb FC port.) This command disables and re-enables the port; the port comes
online with the new fill-word setting. The configuration is stored in nonvolatile memory and is
persistent across switch reboots and power cycles.
• Notes: This configuration cannot be set on VE_Ports or VEX_Ports. Use the portCfgShow
command to display user-configured fill-word settings. The execution of this command is subject
to any Administrative Domain or Virtual Fabric restrictions.
• Operands: This command has the following operands:
slotnumber—For blade systems only, specifies the slot number of the port to be
configured, followed by a slash (/).
◦
◦ portnumber—Specifies the number of the port to be configured, relative to its slot for
blade systems. Use the switchShow command to display a list of valid ports.
◦ mode—Specifies the fill word for portnumber. This operand is required. Valid values
are as follows:
– 0—IDLE in Link Init and IDLE as fill word (default)
– 1—ARB(FF) in Link Init and ARB(FF) as fill word
• Example: To set the fill word of a port to ARB(FF)-ARB(FF):
switch:admin> portcfgfillword 2/3, 1
See also the description of the portCfgShow command in the Fabric OS Command Reference
Manual.
• Behavior:
Default mode
The only mode of operation in releases earlier than Fabric OS 6.1.2 was the IDLE
implementation.
◦
Fabric OS 6.2.0a and 6.2.0b defaulted to ARB(FF)/ARB(FF) for 8-Gb devices.
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