Principle

The standard ARINC 818 protocol is based on a series from the world of telecommunications in point to point called FIBRE CHANNEL FIBRE CHANNEL. It allows , for example , the data transfer between a computer and its storage unit .

Based on a CODAGE 8B / 10B, the base rate is 1.0625Gb/s (1GFC). The faster rates are always a multiple of base rate.

It revolves around a generic document ARINC-818-X. This document defined the following:

• the architecture of use
• the protocol
• the physical interface
• the testing equipments

This document must be associated with a note ( ICD ) specific to the end user to define the format of the video within the generic protocol.

The format of the transported data is based on 3 components :

• The Idles frames : composed of words [K28.5 / D21.4 / D21.5 / D21.5 – Cf. code 8b10b 1, 2], elles ont un rôle de remplissage entre les données utiles.
• The “container header” : indicates the OBJECT content type, position and size
• The OBJECT [3:0] : contins useful data for user and their formats depends essentially of the the final user note.

The generic sequence of the components is the following :

The frame 0 (FC FRAME 0) contains the “container header” and the OBJECT 0.

The other frames can contain OBJECT 1, 2 or 3. The OBJECT can be of different types. In version 1 of the standard, the type can be :

• Ancillry data (OBJECT 0)
• Audio data (OBJECT 1)
• Video data (OBJECT 2/3)

The format of each FC FRAME is the following :