Patent ID: 7801118

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a first link having a first link speed, a second link having a second link speed, a switch core coupled to the first and second links, the switch core having a fixed width, port logic coupled to said switch core and said first and second links, the port logic comprising a state machine, wherein the state machine has a plurality of modes of operation including: a first mode of operation in which the state machine is idle and monitors for signals, a second mode of operation, responsive to detecting a signal indicating a Fibre Channel frame is currently being received from the first link, in which the controller reads in a portion of the frame into a register, a third mode of operation, responsive to detecting that enough of the Fibre Channel frame has been received to determine a route for the frame, a fourth mode of operation, invoked when the second link speed is greater than the first link speed, responsive to a signal to wait until more of the frame has been received, and a fifth mode of operation, invoked when the second link speed is less than or equal to the first link speed, responsive to a signal to implement the route prior to receipt of the entire frame.