Local Area High Speed Networks

1000BASE−X and Fibre Channel

1000BASE−X is a title that applies to three technologies: 1000BASE−SX, 1000BASE−LX, 1000BASE−CX. These technologies were based on existing fibre channel transmission standards. The 8B/10B encoding method introduced for fibre channel is used for 1000BASE−SX, 1000BASE−LX, and 1000BASE−CX.

As the name 8B/10B suggests, each byte is translated to a 10−bit pattern that has a good distribution of 1s and 0s. After translation, a very simple transmission method is used to send the 10−bit pattern. On optical fiber, a 1 is transmitted as a high optical power level, and a 0 is a low optical power level. High and low voltages are used on copper.

8B/10B Data Encoding

The designers of fibre channel and 1000BASE−X wanted a better ...