Method and apparatus for providing optimized high speed link utilization

摘要

A method and apparatus for providing link aggregation and 10.2 gigabit per second throughput in a Fibre Channel fabric. One aspect of the present invention provides a port module for receiving a 10.2 gigabit link on a fiber interface and providing trunking of a plurality links on the backplane, wherein the backplane is coupled to a switching element. In addition, another aspect of the present invention provides a first port module coupled to a switching element for receiving a 10.2 gigabit link from a fabric on a fiber interface and thereafter transmitting fiber channel frames to a second port module coupled to the switching element that interfaces to the fabric at 10.2 gigabits, thereby providing 10.2 gigabit to 10.2 gigabit throughput from the first port module to the second port module.