PRELIMINARY
CYP15G0101DXA
the bits E, D, C, B, and A in that order, and the y is the decimal value
of the binary number composed of the bits H, G, and F in that order.
When c is set to K, xx and y are derived by comparing the encoded
bit patterns of the Special Character to those patterns derived from
encoded Valid Data bytes and selecting the names of the patterns
most similar to the encoded bit patterns of the Special Character.
X3.230 Codes and Notation Conventions
Information to be transmitted over a serial link is encoded eight
bits at a time into a 10-bit Transmission Character and then
sent serially, bit by bit. Information received over a serial link
is collected ten bits at a time, and those Transmission Charac-
ters that are used for data characters are decoded into the
correct eight-bit codes. The 10-bit Transmission Code sup-
ports all 256 8-bit combinations. Some of the remaining Trans-
mission Characters (Special Characters) are used for func-
tions other than data transmission.
Under the above conventions, the Transmission Character
used for the examples above, is referred to by the name D5.2.
The Special Character K29.7 is so named because the first six
bits (abcdei) of this character make up a bit pattern similar to
that resulting from the encoding of the unencoded 11101 pat-
tern (29), and because the second four bits (fghj) make up a
bit pattern similar to that resulting from the encoding of the
unencoded 111 pattern (7).
The primary use of a Transmission Code is to improve the
transmission characteristics of a serial link. The encoding de-
fined by the Transmission Code ensures that sufficient transi-
tions are present in the serial bit stream to make clock recov-
ery possible at the Receiver. Such encoding also greatly
increases the likelihood of detecting any single or multiple bit
errors that may occur during transmission and reception of
information. In addition, some Special Characters of the
Transmission Code selected by Fibre Channel Standard con-
tain a distinct and easily recognizable bit pattern that assists
the receiver in achieving character alignment on the incoming
bit stream.
NOTE: This definition of the 10-bit Transmission Code is
based on the following references, which describe the
same 10-bit transmission code.
A.X. Widmer and P.A. Franaszek. “A DC-Balanced, Parti-
tioned-Block, 8B/10B Transmission Code” IBM Journal of Re-
search and Development, 27, No. 5: 440-451 (September, 1983).
U.S. Patent 4,486,739. Peter A. Franaszek and Albert X. Wid-
mer. “Byte-Oriented DC Balanced (0.4) 8B/10B Partitioned
Block Transmission Code” (December 4, 1984).
Notation Conventions
Fibre Channel Physical and Signaling Interface (ANS X3.230-
1994 ANSI FC-PH Standard).
The documentation for the 8B/10B Transmission Code uses
letter notation for the bits in an 8-bit byte. Fibre Channel Stan-
dard notation uses a bit notation of A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H for
the 8-bit byte for the raw 8-bit data, and the letters a, b, c, d,
e, i, f, g, h, j for encoded 10-bit data. There is a correspon-
dence between bit A and bit a, B and b, C and c, D and d, E
and e, F and f, G and g, and H and h. Bits i and j are derived,
respectively, from (A,B,C,D,E) and (F,G,H).
IBM Enterprise Systems Architecture/390 ESCON I/O Inter-
face (document number SA22-7202).
8B/10B Transmission Code
The following information describes how the tables are used
for both generating valid Transmission Characters (encoding)
and checking the validity of received Transmission Characters
(decoding). It also specifies the ordering rules to be followed
when transmitting the bits within a character and the charac-
ters within any higher-level constructs specified by a standard.
The bit labeled A in the description of the 8B/10B Transmission
Code corresponds to bit 0 in the numbering scheme of the FC-
2 specification, B corresponds to bit 1, as shown below.
FC-2 bit designation—
HOTLink D/Q designation— 7
8B/10B bit designation—
7
6
6
G F
5
5
4
4
E
3
3
D
2
2
C
1
1
B
0
0
A
Transmission Order
H
Within the definition of the 8B/10B Transmission Code, the bit
positions of the Transmission Characters are labeled a, b, c,
d, e, i, f, g, h, j. Bit “a” is transmitted first followed by bits b, c,
d, e, i, f, g, h, and j in that order.
To clarify this correspondence, the following example shows
the conversion from an FC-2 Valid Data Byte to a Transmission
Character.
FC-2 45H
Note that bit i is transmitted between bit e and bit f, rather than
in alphabetical order.
Bits: 7654 3210
0100 0101
Valid and Invalid Transmission Characters
Converted to 8B/10B notation, note that the order of bits has
been reversed):
The following tables define the valid Data Characters and valid
Special Characters (K characters), respectively. The tables
are used for both generating valid Transmission Characters
and checking the validity of received Transmission Charac-
ters. In the tables, each Valid-Data-byte or Special-Character-
code entry has two columns that represent two Transmission
Characters. The two columns correspond to the current value
of the running disparity. Running disparity is a binary parame-
ter with either a negative (–) or positive (+) value.
Data Byte Name D5.2
Bits: ABCDE FGH
10100 010
Translated to a transmission Character in the 8B/10B Trans-
mission Code:
Bits: abcdei fghj
101001 0101
After powering on, the Transmitter may assume either a posi-
tive or negative value for its initial running disparity. Upon
transmission of any Transmission Character, the transmitter
will select the proper version of the Transmission Character
based on the current running disparity value, and the Trans-
mitter calculates a new value for its running disparity based on
the contents of the transmitted character. Special Character
Each valid Transmission Character of the 8B/10B Transmis-
sion Code has been given a name using the following conven-
tion: cxx.y, where c is used to show whether the Transmission
Character is a Data Character (c is set to D, and SC/D = LOW)
or a Special Character (c is set to K, and SC/D = HIGH). When c is
set to D, xx is the decimal value of the binary number composed of
Document #: 38-02061 Rev. **
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