Patent ID: 7720967

Claim:
A storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code for resolving contention issues by a control unit in a fibre optic switch environment, wherein said contention issues occur during channel program execution, said storage medium including instructions for causing a computer to implement a method, comprising: sending a status packet to said at least one channel, said status packet indicating said device is no longer busy; receiving a status-acceptance packet from said at least one channel, said status-acceptance packet including a re-initiate field that indicates to the control unit whether or not said at least one channel intends to re-initiate a channel program, said re-initiate field operable for receiving at least one of a first, second and third combination of bits; waiting a first period of time for a command initiating a new channel program from said channel if said first combination of bits set in said re-initiate field indicates that said channel intends to re-initiate said channel program and re-initiating said channel program in response to said re-initiate field being set by at least one of said first and third combination of bits.