Method and system for auto routing fibre channel class F frames in a fibre channel fabric

1. A Fibre Channel switch element for routing Fibre Channel frames, comprising:

a plurality of ports for receiving and transmitting Fibre Channel frames, wherein each port includes:

a receive segment for receiving a Fibre Channel frame;

a transmit segment for transmitting the Fibre channel Frame;

wherein the receive segment is configured to: (a) parse the received Fibre Channel frame by extracting a start of frame (SOF) value from a frame header for the Fibre Channel frame; (b) determine if the received Fibre Channel frame is a Class F frame by matching the SOF value extracted from the received frame header with a start of frame delimiter of a class F Fibre Channel frame; and (c) if the received Fibre Channel frame is a Class F frame and if automatic routing of a Class F frame is enabled for the port that received the Class F Frame, then automatically route the Class F frame to a Domain Controller, if the Class F frame is addressed to the Domain Controller;

wherein if the Fibre Channel frame is a Class F frame, as determined in step (c) and not destined for the Domain Controller, then the Fibre Channel frame is not sent to the Domain Controller; and

wherein if automatic routing is disabled for the port and the Fibre Channel frame is a Class F frame, then the Class F frame is processed by a processor for the Fibre Channel switch element.

2. The Fibre Channel switch element of claim 1 , wherein if a Fibre Channel Class F frame Domain_ID value extracted from a Fibre Channel D_ID value matches a Native_ID value for the Fibre Channel switch element, then the Fibre Channel Class F frame is routed to the processor of the Fibre Channel switch element that operates as a Domain Controller.

3. The Fibre Channel switch element of claim 1 , wherein lower 8 bits of the frame D_ID value are used for routing the Class F frame to the Domain Controller.

4. The Fibre Channel switch element of claim 1 , wherein automatic Class F frame routing is enabled by setting a bit in a control register accessible by the processor for the Fibre Channel switch element, and when the bit is set, Fibre Channel Class F frames are automatically routed without intervention from the processor.

5. The Fibre Channel switch element of claim 1 , wherein a Domain Steering, Table is used for steering Class F frames addressed to the Domain Controller and for steering non-Class F frames.

6. The Fibre Channel switch element of claim 5 , wherein the Domain Steering Table stores different columns of output port number values and a control register stores plural Native Identification values for a Fibre Channel switch element that operates in more than one Virtual Fabric.

7. The Fibre Channel switch element of claim 5 , wherein the Domain Steering Table is stored in a register at the Fibre Channel switch element port.

8. A method for routing Fibre Channel frames using a Fibre Channel switch element having a plurality of ports, each port having a receive segment for receiving a fibre channel frame, and a transmit segment for transmitting the fibre channel frame, comprising:

(a) receiving a Fibre Channel frame at a receive segment of a port from among the plurality of ports at the Fibre Channel switch element;

b) parsing the Fibre Channel frame at the receive segment and extracting a start of frame (SOF) value from a frame header for the Fibre Channel frame;

(c) determining if the received Fibre Channel frame is a Class F frame by matching the SOF value extracted from the received frame header with a start of frame delimiter of a class F Fibre Channel frame;

(d) if the received Fibre Channel frame is a Class F frame, as determined in step (c) and if automatic routing of a Class F frame is enabled for the port that received the Class F Frame, then automatically routing the Class F frame to a Domain Controller, if the Class F frame is addressed to the Domain Controller;

(e) if the Fibre Channel frame is a Class F frame as determined in step (c) and not destined for the Domain Controller, then the Class F frame is not sent to the Domain Controller; and

(f) if automatic routing is disabled for the port and the Fibre Channel frame is a Class F frame as determined in step (c), then the received Class F frame is processed by a processor for the Fibre Channel switch element.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein parsing the Fibre Channel frame includes extracting a destination identifier field (D_ID) value from the frame header; and if a Fibre Channel Class F frame Domain_ID value extracted from the D_ID value matches a Native_ID value for the Fibre Channel switch element, then the Fibre Channel Class F frame is routed to the processor for the Fibre Channel switch element that operates as a Domain Controller.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein lower 8 bits of the frame D_ID value are used for routing the Class F frame to the Domain Controller.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein automatic Class F frame routing is enabled by setting a bit in a control register accessible by the processor for the Fibre Channel switch element, and when the bit is set, Fibre Channel Class F frames are automatically routed without any intervention from the processor.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein a Domain Steering Table is used for automatically steering both Class F frames addressed to the Domain Controller and non-Class F Fibre Channel frames.