Patent ID: 7630405

Claim:
A method for using a Generic Framing Procedure (GFP) to transport data across an optical transport network between two different local area optical networks that each use the same Fiber Channel (FC) or Fiber Connectivity (FICON) Protocol for local area data transfer, wherein a FC/FICON edge node on an edge of the optical transport network has a plurality of modes for processing FC/FICON frames transported across the optical transport network, comprising the steps of: forming at a near FC/FICON edge node on a first local area optical network a GFP control plane message that includes a mode field that holds data that indicates a near mode of the plurality of modes, wherein the near mode is used at the near FC/FICON edge node; and sending the GFP control plane message to a far FC/FICON edge node on a second local area optical network different from the first local area optical network, wherein the far FC/FICON edge node determines whether a far mode used by the far FC/FICON edge node of the plurality of modes matches the near mode based on the mode field in the GFP control plane message.