Programmable SONET framing

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a frame dimension unit; and

a SONET framer coupled to the frame dimension unit and included on a networking card having a plurality of SONET processors, the SONET framer configured to convert a data stream to and/or from a frame format, wherein the frame format includes a variable frame size provided by a programmable plane counter, row counter, and column counter included in the frame dimension unit, the SONET framer further configured to support a first data rate by converting a data stream to and/or from the frame format based at least in part on a first frame dimension programmed into the programmable plane counter, row counter, and column counter wherein the SONET framer is reprogrammable to support a second data rate based at least in part on a second frame dimension programmed into the programmable plane counter, row counter, and column counter.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the frame dimension comprises a programmable number of planes per frame.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the SONET framer supports a plurality of standard SONET data rates corresponding to particular values of the programmable number of planes.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the SONET framer supports a range of data rates corresponding to particular values of the programmable number of planes.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a simulation environment, and wherein the frame dimension is programmed to achieve a data rate supported by the simulation environment.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the simulation environment comprises at least one of a software simulator and a hardware emulator.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a simulation environment interface to couple the apparatus to a simulation environment, said frame dimension to be programmed to achieve a data rate supported by the simulation environment.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a logic analyzer interface to couple the apparatus to a logic analyzer, said frame dimension to be programmed to achieve a volume of data per frame supported by the logic analyzer.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an input/output (I/O) port coupled to the SONET framer to provide the data stream.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the networking card further includes one or more slots configured to be coupled to one or more physical medium dependency cards.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the networking card to provide framed data to a physical medium dependency device, the physical medium dependency device and the networking card to convert the data to a format that is usable by a data fabric.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the networking card to include a router interface and corresponding physical medium dependency device slots.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first and the second frame dimensions are programmable to change a number of rows and columns within the respective first and second frame dimensions without changing a number of planes.

14. A method, comprising:

enabling access to frame dimension information from a frame dimension unit, the frame dimension unit including a programmable plane counter, row counter, and column counter; and

converting a data stream to and/or from a frame format with a SONET framer based on a frame dimension programmed into the frame dimension unit, wherein the frame dimension includes at least one of a programmable number of rows per frame and a programmable number of columns per frame to provide a variable frame size, wherein the programmable number of rows per frame and the programmable number of columns per frame may be programmed without programming a change in a programmable number of planes per frame.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the frame dimension comprises a programmable number of planes per frame.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the number of planes corresponds to one of a plurality of standard SONET data rates supported by the SONET framer.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the SONET framer supports a range of data rates corresponding to at least one of the programmable number of rows and the programmable number of columns.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

means for enabling access to a size of an optical data network frame via one or more of a plurality of programmable counters in a frame dimension unit for a SONET frame, wherein the optical data network frame is to be transmitted and/or received over an optical network; and

means for converting a data stream to and/or from a frame format based on a reprogrammed size of the optical data network frame, wherein a variable frame dimension is provided by a programmable plane counter, row counter and column counter in the frame dimension unit.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the means for enabling access to the size of the optical data network frame includes one or more dip switches to represent one or more possible modes of operation.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the means for enabling access to the size of the optical data network frame includes means configured to directly write a maximum number of planes to a plane counter.

21. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the means for converting the data stream to and/or from a frame format includes a SONET framer configured to fill available payload byte locations in a frame with bytes from the data stream and fill byte locations reserved for overhead in the frame with bytes generated by an overhead processor.

22. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising an input/output (I/O) port coupled to the means for converting the data stream to and/or from the frame format.