Looking for a Fibre-Channel interface

[Paul_Conaway]

Does there exist a Fiber Optic communications interface, specifically "Fibre-Channel" for which LabVIEW drivers exist?

Perhaps one of the select integrators may have one or know of one.

Paul Conaway

Lockheed Martin, Syracuse

[K C]

Fiber optic is just a transport medium. I don't see the relation with LV.

If you want RS-232 over fiber just look for rs-232 to Fiber modules. LV does care if it's copper or fiber.

Or am i missing something

Message Edited by K C on 09-24-2008 02:37 PM

[Ben]

[Warning: A little self promotion follows. Read at your own risk!]

I am working a project now that includes a "Fibre-Channel" phase in a future phase. We have done a lot of research into this area and are developing benchmarking systems that will let us quantify the determinism of various transport mediums. The current implementation is building on a SCRAMnet gt fiber network to do the measurements.

If you think we may be able to help you out, you can e-mail me at

bar@DSAutomation.com

and I'll put in in contact with management types.

[End of shameless self promotion]

Ben

PS: If you are at the same facility as "Rick Lucas", tell him that "Ben says 'Hi!'"

Message Edited by Ben on 09-24-2008 07:57 AM

[Paul_Conaway]

Many different protocols ride on top of "Fibre-Channel" these include but are not limited to: SCSI, IP, HPPI, IEEE802.2, Serial Rapid IO, and many others. I have a particular need to get at the next lower layer of the protocol stack, known as FC-3, to set the parameters for N_Port Login to the Fabric and to programatically control the class of service. This is at a lower level than any protocol.

For example a "Host bus adapter" is used to connect computers to remote disk servers over Fibre Channel. This uses SCSI, and all of the lower level protocol, work such as handshaking, arbitration, logging in and establishing the link are all handled in Firmware that is not accessable to mere mortals ( i.e. customers not willing to buy 100,000 units so as to justify the NRE)

[Ben]

Hi Paul,

Since Fibre channel is only being used in high-tech military and large server-farm environments, you aren't going to find a lot people that are using it.

You may want to cross post this Q to LAVA (LabVIEW Advanced Virtual Architects) to see if you can get some help from them. If you do cross post, please note this thread in that posting ( there is a group of us that contribute to both that forum and this one).

Just trying to help,

Ben