Brocade Glossary (53-1000040-03, November 2006)

18 Brocade Glossary
Publication Number: 53-1000040-03
Glossary
LIFA Loop-initialization fabric-assigned frame. Contains a bitmap of all fabric-assigned AL_PAs and is the
first frame transmitted in the loop initialization process after a temporary loop master has been selected.
LIHA Loop-initialization hard-assigned frame. A hard-assigned AL_PA that is indicated by a bit set and is the
third frame transmitted in the loop initialization process after a temporary loop master has been
selected.
LILP Loop-initialization loop-position frame. The final frame transmitted in a loop initialization process. A
returned LIRP contains an accumulation of all of the AL_PA position maps. This allows loop members
to determine their relative loop position. This is an optional frame and is not transmitted unless the
LIRP is also transmitted.
link control
facility
A termination, handling physical and logical control of the Fibre Channel link for each mode.
link cost A dimensionless positive number associated with the cost of an interswitch link (ISL) or interfabric link
(IFL) that, by default, is inversely proportional to its bandwidth. The cost to reach the destination from
a node; the metric of a route to a destination, at a node. In a Brocade fabric, to display the fabric shortest
path first (FSPF) cost of a link, use the linkCost command. See also ISL, IFL, and FSPF.
Link Services A protocol for link-related actions.
LIP Loop initialization primitive. The signal used to begin initialization in a loop. Indicates either loop
failure or SAN device resetting.
LIPA Loop-initialization previously assigned. The device marks a bit in the bitmap if it did not log in with the
fabric in a previous loop initialization.
LIRP Loop-initialization report position frame. The first frame transmitted in the loop initialization process
after all L_Ports have selected an AL_PA. The LIRP gets transmitted around the loop so all L_Ports can
report their relative physical position. This is an optional frame.
LISA Loop-initialization soft-assigned frame. The fourth frame transmitted in the loop initialization process
after a temporary loop master has been selected. L_Ports that have not selected an AL_PA in a LIFA,
LIPA, or LIHA frame select their AL_PA here.
LISM Loop-initialization select master frame. The first frame transmitted in the initialization process when
L_Ports select an AL_PA. LISM is used to select a temporary loop master or the L_Port that will
subsequently start transmission of the LIFA, LIPA, LIHA, LISA, LIRP, or LILP frames.
LM_TOV Loop master timeout value. The minimum time that the loop master waits for a loop initialization
sequence to return.
Locality The degree that I/O is confined to a particular switch or segment of a fabric. If two devices that need to
communicate with each other are located on the same switch or fabric segment, then these two devices
are said to have high locality. If these same devices are located on different switches or segments of a
fabric and these two devices need to communicate with each other, then these devices are said to have
low locality.
Loom Brocade 1-Gbit/sec switch ASIC. Used in the SilkWorm 2000 series of switches.
loop circuit A temporary bidirectional communication path established between L_Ports.