Method and system for configuring fibre channel ports

A switch element for routing information, comprising:

• a port that is configured to operate at one or more of a plurality of data transfer rates;
• wherein a clock rate for one data transfer rate is not an integer multiple of a clock rate for another data transfer rate at which the same port is configured to operate;
• wherein the same port uses one interface to support one or more lanes for receiving and transferring information at the plurality of data transfer rates;
• and the one interface includes a plurality of selectable serial/de-serializer (SERDES), where a higher number of SERDES and a higher number of lanes are selected for a first data transfer rate, and a lower number of SERDES and a lower number of lanes are selected for supporting a second data transfer rate, where the first data transfer rate is higher than the second data transfer rate.

A switch element for routing network frames, comprising:

• a port that is configured to operate at one or more of a plurality of data transfer rates;
• wherein a clock rate for one data transfer rate is not an even multiple of a clock rate for another data transfer rate at which the port is configured to operate;
• wherein the port uses one interface to support one or more lanes for receiving and transferring frames at the plurality of data transfer rates;
• and the one interface includes a plurality of selectable serial/de-serializer (SERDES);
• and
• wherein a higher number of SERDES and a higher number of lanes are selected for a first data transfer rate, and a lower number of SERDES and a lower number of lanes are selected for supporting a second data transfer rate, where the first data transfer rate is higher than the second data transfer rate;
• and wherein the switch element includes a clock configuration module for providing a clock signal that is based on a configured data transfer rate for the port.