Methods, systems and apparatus for the servicing of fibre channel fabric login frames

An apparatus for processing Fibre Channel and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) frames comprising:

• a first port adapted to transmit and receive Fibre Channel frames,
• a second port adapted to transmit and receive FCoE Initialization Protocol (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 the first and second ports,
• a FCoE and FIP frame encapsulation apparatus, the FCoE and FIP frame encapsulation apparatus coupled to the first port, configured to encapsulate Fibre Channel Fabric Login (FLOGI) frames into FIP FLOGI frames,
• a FCoE and FIP frame decapsulation apparatus, the FCoE and FIP frame decapsulation apparatus coupled to the first port, configured to decapsulate FIP Link Service Accept (LS_ACC) frames into Fibre Channel RP LS_ACC frames, and
• a frame processing apparatus, the frame processing apparatus configured to identify FIP FLOGI frames to be forwarded out an egress port of the frame processing apparatus and identify FIP LS_ACC frames to be forwarded out an egress port.

A system for servicing Fibre Channel and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) frames and transferring frames between FCoE devices comprising:

• a first FCoE Device,
• a second FCoE device,
• a first port adapted to transmit receive Fibre Channel frames,
• a second port adapted to transmit and receive FCoE Initialization Protocol 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 the first and second ports,
• a FCoE and FIP frame encapsulation apparatus, the FCoE and FIP frame encapsulation apparatus coupled to the first port, configured to encapsulate Fibre Channel FLOGI frames into FIP FLOGI frames,
• a FCoE and FIP frame decapsulation apparatus, the FCoE and FIP frame decapsulation apparatus coupled to the first port, configured to decapsulate FIP Link Service Accept (LS_ACC) frames into Fibre Channel FIP LS_ACC frames, and
• a frame processing apparatus, the frame processing apparatus configured to identify FIP FLOGI frames to be forwarded out an egress port of the frame processing apparatus and identify FIP (LS_ACC) frames to be forwarded out an egress port.