High speed linking module

A device for converting a serial input data stream on a fiber optic data line to at least four parallel data streams on respective output data lines, the device comprising:

• a receiver for de-serializing the input data stream into first and second intermediate parallel data streams,
• a first demultiplexer for demultiplexing the first intermediate parallel data stream into two parallel data streams on two respective output data lines;
• a second demultiplexer for demultiplexing the second intermediate parallel data stream into two other parallel data streams on two other output data lines;
• and
• a signal for synchronizing the de-serializing of the first and second intermediate output streams and tagging data in the serial input data stream as corresponding to data in each of the respective output data lines
• wherein the signal includes a cycle having a first phase and a second phase, the first phase for tagging data from two of the respective output data lines to data in the serial input data stream and the second phase for tagging data from two of the other respective output data lines to data in the serial input data stream.

In channel-to-channel communications among devices, wherein each device has a plurality of ports for connecting to communication links between the devices, a method for communicating between two devices over a single link comprising the steps of:

• (a) converting a plurality of data streams from respective ports of a first of the two devices into one serial data stream, including the steps of:
• (i) multiplexing at least two of the plurality of data streams into a first intermediate output stream;
• (ii) multiplexing at least two other of the plurality of data streams into a second intermediate output stream;
• (iii) serializing the first and second intermediate output streams into the serial data stream,
• (iv) synchronizing the serialization of the first and second intermediate output streams,
• (v) tagging output data in the serial data stream as corresponding to data from each of the respective ports of the first device, including providing a signal having a cycle with a first phase and a second phase, and tagging two of the respective ports with the first phase and tagging two other respective ports with the second phase, and
• (vi) transmitting the serial data stream on the single link to a second of the two devices;
• (b) converting the serial data stream in the second device to at least four input data streams, and
• (c) sending each of the input data streams to a port of the second device.

In channel-to-channel communications among devices, wherein each device has a plurality of ports for connecting to communication links between the devices, a method for communicating between two devices over a single link comprising the steps of:

• (a) converting a plurality of data streams from respective ports of a first of the two devices into one serial data stream;
• (b) transmitting the serial data stream on the single link to a second of the two devices;
• (c) converting the serial data stream in the second device to at least four input data streams,
• (d) sending each of the input data streams to a port of the second device,
• (e) transferring the plurality of data streams between the first and second devices, and
• (f) checking status between the first and second devices free of disrupting the transfer of the plurality of data streams.

In an Enterprise Systems Connection (ESCON) architecture having channel directors, each channel director including (a) input and output data ports for receiving and transmitting data streams and (b) a switch matrix for dynamically connecting the data ports, wherein a first channel director communicates with a second channel director over a fiber optic data line, a device for the first channel director comprising:

• at least four input ports, each port receiving one of the data streams,
• a multiplexer for converting the data streams from the four input ports into an intermediate data stream,
• a transmitter for serializing the intermediate data stream into a serial data stream for output onto the fiber optic data line, and
• a signal for tagging output data in the serial data stream as corresponding to data from each of the respective input ports
• wherein the signal includes a cycle having a first phase and a second phase, the first phase for tagging output data in the serial data stream from two ports of the respective input ports and the second phase for tagging output data in the serial data stream from two other ports of the respective input ports.