Methods, systems and apparatus for the interconnection of fibre channel over ethernet devices

An apparatus for interconnecting a plurality of ports for forwarding received Fibre Channel Initialization (FIP) and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) frames between the ports, the apparatus comprising:

• a first port adapted to transmit and receive FIP and FCoE frames,
• a second port adapted to transmit and receive FIP and FCoE frames,
• a connectivity apparatus, the connectivity apparatus disposed between and coupled to the first port and the second port, the connectivity apparatus forwarding frames between ports,
• a destination Ethernet MAC address replacement apparatus,
• a source Ethernet MAC address replacement apparatus,
• a Ethernet Type field match apparatus,
• storage, the storage containing the FCF-MAC address from a FCoE device interconnection apparatus controller, and
• a frame processing apparatus, the frame processing apparatus configured to identify certain FCoE frames and signal the destination and source Ethernet MAC address replacement apparatus to replace the source and destination Ethernet MAC addresses in the incoming frame, the frame processing apparatus further configured to identify FIP frames and forward the frames to the connectivity apparatus to be forwarded out an egress port.

A system for interconnecting (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) FCoE devices, comprising:

• a first FCoE device,
• a second FCoE device,
• a FCoE device interconnection apparatus (FIA), comprising:
• a first port adapted to transmit and receive Fibre Channel Initialization Protocol (FIP) and FCoE frames, the said first FCoE device is coupled to the said first port of the FIA,
• a second port adapted to transmit and receive FIP and FCoE frames, the said second FCoE device is coupled to the said second port of the FIA,
• a third port adapted to transmit and receive FIP, FCoE, and IP frames,
• a connectivity apparatus, the connectivity apparatus disposed between and coupled to the first, second and third ports, the connectivity apparatus forwarding Ethernet frames,
• a source Ethernet MAC address replacement apparatus,
• a destination Ethernet MAC address replacement apparatus, and
• a frame processing apparatus, the frame processing apparatus configured to identify FIP frames and forward the frames to the connectivity apparatus with the original source and destination Ethernet MAC addresses, identify FCoE frames and signal the source and destination Ethernet MAC address replacement apparatus to replace the source and destination Ethernet MAC addresses, and
• a FCoE device interconnection apparatus controller (FIAC) including a first port adapted to transmit and receive FIP, FCoE and IP frames, and the said first port of the FIAC is coupled to the said third port of the FIA.