ISO/IEC TR 14165-312:2009

Information technology — Fibre Channel — Part 312: Avionics environment upper layer protocol MIL-STD-1553B Notice 2 (FC-AE-1553)

ISO/IEC 14165-312:2009(E) is intended to serve as an implementation guide to maximize the likelihood of interoperability between conforming implementations. It requires features that are optional, and prohibits the use of some non-optional features in the referenced specifications. In addition it simplifies implementations and their associated documentation, testing, and support requirements.

Technologies de l'information — Canal de fibres — Partie 312: Protocole de couche supérieure d'environnement avionique MIL-STD-1553B Notice 2 (FC-AE-1553)

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 06-Aug-2009
• ICS: 35.200 - Interface and interconnection equipment
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 25 - Interconnection of information technology equipment
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 25 - Interconnection of information technology equipment
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Start Date: 07-Aug-2009
• Due Date: 20-Jul-2010
• Completion Date: 20-Jul-2010

Overview

ISO/IEC TR 14165-312:2009 - also published as the Fibre Channel Avionics Environment Upper Layer Protocol (FC‑AE‑1553) - is a technical report that provides an implementation guide for carrying MIL‑STD‑1553B style avionics messages over Fibre Channel. The report focuses on maximizing interoperability between conforming implementations by requiring certain optional features, prohibiting incompatible features, and simplifying implementation, documentation, testing and support for FC‑based avionics networks.

Key topics and requirements

• FC‑AE‑1553 profile: Defines the upper‑layer protocol (ULP) mapping of MIL‑STD‑1553 concepts to Fibre Channel primitives and the FC‑4 profile for this avionics environment.
• Mapping legacy 1553 constructs: Terminology and field mappings (NT/NC, subaddresses, command/byte‑count/mode‑code) to ensure consistent translation from MIL‑STD‑1553 to FC frames.
• Information units & exchange formats: Specification of the information units exchanged between Network Controller (NC) and Network Terminal (NT), including NC→NT, NT→NC and NT→NT transfers and burst behavior.
• ULP features & timers: Required/forbidden features, sequence headers, status headers, multicast/broadcast handling, and protocol timers that govern transaction timeouts and burst windows.
• Fibre Channel profile details: Guidance on relevant FC layers (e.g., FC‑FS, FC‑AL‑2), port/fabric login (PRLI/PRLO), header fields (R_CTL, TYPE, F_CTL, SEQ_ID, etc.), and class of service considerations.
• Process login (PRLI/PRLO): Normative annex on FC process login/logout requirements and service parameter pages specific to FC‑AE‑1553.
• Bridging guidance: Informative annex addressing bridging strategies between FC‑AE‑1553 networks and legacy MIL‑STD‑1553 buses.

Applications and who uses it

• Avionics system designers and engineers integrating MIL‑STD‑1553B avionics messaging over modern Fibre Channel fabrics.
• Hardware and firmware developers building NC/NT modules, gateways, and bridge devices for avionics platforms.
• System integrators and test houses validating protocol conformance, interoperability and certification for airborne equipment.
• Vendors of embedded avionics networks seeking a standardized upper‑layer profile to ensure predictable behavior across heterogeneous implementations.

Related standards (select)

• MIL‑STD‑1553B (avionics serial data bus)
• Fibre Channel base standards and FC‑FS / FC‑AL‑2 profiles
• ISO/IEC TR 14165 series (Fibre Channel upper layer guidance)

ISO/IEC TR 14165‑312:2009 is essential when migrating or bridging legacy 1553 payloads onto Fibre Channel infrastructures while preserving deterministic avionics behavior and ensuring interoperable, testable implementations.

Standards Content (Sample)

ISO/IEC TR 14165-312
Edition 1.0 2009-07
TECHNICAL
REPORT
Information technology – Fibre channel –
Part 312: Avionics environment upper layer protocol (FC-AE 1553)

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester.
If you have any questions about ISO/IEC copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this
publication, please contact the address below or your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

IEC Central Office
3, rue de Varembé
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
Email: [e-mail]
Web: www.iec.ch
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.
ƒ Catalogue of IEC publications: www.iec.ch/searchpub
The IEC on-line Catalogue enables you to search by a variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical committee,…).
It also gives information on projects, withdrawn and replaced publications.
ƒ IEC Just Published: www.iec.ch/online_news/justpub
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published details twice a month all new publications released. Available
on-line and also by email.
ƒ Electropedia: www.electropedia.org
The world's leading online dictionary of electronic and electrical terms containing more than 20 000 terms and definitions
in English and French, with equivalent terms in additional languages. Also known as the International Electrotechnical
Vocabulary online.
ƒ Customer Service Centre: www.iec.ch/webstore/custserv
If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or need further assistance, please visit the Customer Service
Centre FAQ or contact us:
Email: [e-mail]
Tel.: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
ISO/IEC TR 14165-312
Edition 1.0 2009-07
TECHNICAL
REPORT
Information technology – Fibre channel –
Part 312: Avionics environment upper layer protocol (FC-AE 1553)

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
PRICE CODE
X
ICS 35.200 ISBN 2-8318-1053-4

– 2 – TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E)
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.5
INTRODUCTION.7
1 Scope.8
2 Normative references .8
3 Terms, definitions and conventions.8
3.1 General considerations.8
3.2 Terms and definitions .9
3.3 Conventions .10
3.3.1 General .10
3.3.2 Binary notation .11
3.3.3 Hexadecimal notation .11
3.3.4 Abbreviations and acronyms.11
3.4 Applicability and use of this document.11
4 FC-AE-1553 profile.12
4.1 General .12
4.2 FC-AE-1553 elements .12
4.3 Mapping legacy 1553 applications to FC-AE-1553 .13
4.3.1 General .13
4.3.2 NT address.14
4.3.3 NT subaddress .14
4.3.4 Byte Count/Mode code .15
4.4 FC-AE-1553 ULP features .15
4.4.1 Information units.15
4.4.2 Exchange formats.20
4.4.3 FC-AE-1553 ULP profile .40
4.4.4 MIL-STD-1553 ULP mapping to FC-AE-1553 .44
Annex A (normative) FC-AE-1553 process login .72
A.1 Overview of process login and process logout .72
A.2 PRLI.73
A.2.1 Use of PRLI by FC-AE-1553.73
A.2.2 Process_Associator requirements .73
A.2.3 New or repeated process login .73
A.2.4 PRLI payload page length and payload length fields.73
A.2.5 PRLI request FC-AE-1553 service parameter page format.74
A.2.6 Operation of PRLI service parameters which are common to NC and NT.78
A.3 A.3 PRLO .79
Annex B (informative) FC-AE-1553 Fibre Channel profile.80
B.1 General .80
B.2 FC-FS-2 and FC-AL-2 features for FC-AE-1553.80
B.3 Point-to-point and link protocols .83
B.4 Arbitrated loop-specific features .83
B.5 Fabric login .84
B.5.1 Introduction .84

TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E) – 3 –
B.5.2 Fabric login – Common service parameters .84
B.5.3 Fabric login – Class specific service parameters .85
B.6 Port login.85
B.6.1 General .85
B.6.2 Classes of service supported.85
B.6.3 N_Port Login – Common service parameters.85
B.6.4 N_Port login – Class 3 service parameters .86
B.7 Basic link services.86
B.8 Broadcast and multicast support.86
B.9 FC-FS header fields .86
B.9.1 R_CTL field .86
B.9.2 TYPE field .86
B.9.3 Optional headers .86
B.9.4 Frame control (F_CTL) .86
B.9.5 Sequence identifier (SEQ_ID).87
B.9.6 Data field control (DF_CTL).87
B.9.7 Sequence count (SEQ_CNT) .87
B.9.8 Originator exchange identifier (OX_ID) .87
B.9.9 Responder exchange identifier (RX_ID).87
B.10 Extended link services.87
B.11 Well known address support.88
Annex C (informative) Bridging from FC-AE-1553 networks to MIL-STD-1553 buses.89
Bibliography.91

Figure 1 – Network Controller To Network Terminal transfers: NT Burst Size Request
= ‘0’b, Delayed NT Burst Size Request = ‘0’b.21
Figure 2 – Network Controller To Network Terminal Transfers: NT Burst Size Request
= ‘1’b, Delayed NT Burst Size Request = ‘0’b.22
Figure 3 – Network Controller to Network Terminal transfers: NT Burst Size Request =
‘0’b, Delayed NT Burst Size Request = ‘1’b.23
Figure 4 – Network Terminal-to-Network Controller.25
Figure 5 – NT-to-NT Transfers: NT Burst Size Request = ‘0’b, Delayed NT Burst Size
Request = ‘0’b .26
Figure 6 – NT-to-NT transfers: NT Burst Size Request = ‘1’b, Delayed NT Burst Size
Request = ‘0’b .28
Figure 7 – NT-to-NT Transfers: Originating NC is also receiving NT, with NT Burst
Size Request =‘1’b, Delayed NT Burst Size Request = ‘0’b .29
Figure 8 – NT-to-NT transfers: Delayed NT Burst Size Request = ‘1’b, NT Burst Size
Request = ‘0’b .31
Figure 9 – NT-to-NT transfers: originating NC is also receiving NT, with delayed NT
Burst Size Request = ‘1’b, NT Burst Size Request =‘0’b.33
Figure 10 – Mode command without Data Word .35
Figure 11 – Transmit Mode Command with Data Word.35
Figure 12 – Receive Mode command with Data Word .36
Figure 13 – NC-to-NTs transfers (broadcast or multicast) .36
Figure 14 – Network Terminal to Multiple Network Terminals .38
Figure 15 – Transmit mode command without Data Word to Multiple Network Terminals.39

– 4 – TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E)
Figure 16 – Receive mode command with Data Word to Multiple Network Terminals .40
Figure 17 – FC-AE-1553 ULP timers: (a) NT_C/S_TOV and NT_C-D/S_BURST_TOV;
(b) NC_C/S_TOV and NC_C-D/S_BURST_TOV; (c) C-S/D_TX_TOV (shown for NC
and NT); (d) C-S/D_RX_TOV (shown for NC and NT) .62

Figure C.1 – FC-AE-1553 network to MIL-STD-1553 bus bridge.89

Table 1 – Summary and use of features.12
Table 2 – Terminology equivalents between MIL-STD-1553 and FC-AE-1553 .13
Table 3 – Comparison of MIL-STD-1553 and FC-AE-1553 Command Field Sizes.14
Table 4 – Information units transmitted by the Network Controller to Network Terminal,
and transmissions by the transmitting NT for NT-to-NT or NT-to-NTs transfers .16
Table 5 – Information Units Initiated from the Network Terminal, Excluding
Transmissions by the Transmitting NT for NT-to-NT or NT-to-NTs Transfers.19
Table 6 – FC-4 profile for FC-AE-1553.41
Table 7 – FC-AE-1553 command sequence header .46
Table 8 – Multicast address or other Port_ID Field.52
Table 9 – FC-AE-1553 status sequence header .57
Table 10 – Correct values for F_CTL field bits .64
Table 11 – Values for D_ID field (for broadcast); NT-to-NT Transfer, T/R*, Tx RDMA,
and RDMA bits; subaddress, byte Count/Mode bode, and other subaddress fields.65
Table 12 – Correct values for fourth word of FC-AE-1553 header extension.69
Table 13 – Correct Values for multicast address or other Port_ID field.69

Table A.1 – FC-AE-1553 PRLI service parameter page, PRLI request and accept .74
Table A.2 – FC-AE-1553 PRLI service parameters – corresponding words/bits for PRLI
parameters which are common to NC and NT operation.79

Table B.1 – FC-FS and FC-AL-2 Features for FC-AE-1553 .80

Table C.1 – Use of FC-AE-1553 subaddress and/or other subaddress field for
command sequences involving bridging to MIL-STD-1553 RTs .89

TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E) – 5 –
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY –
FIBRE CHANNEL –
Part 312: Avionics environment
upper layer protocol (FC-AE 1553)

FOREWORD
1) ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) form the
specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of ISO or IEC participate in
the development of International Standards. Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any ISO and
IEC member body interested in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International
governmental and non-governmental organizations liaising with ISO and IEC also participate in this preparation.
2) In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
Draft International Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting.
Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
3) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC and ISO on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an
international consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation
from all interested IEC and ISO member bodies.
4) IEC, ISO and ISO/IEC publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted
by IEC and ISO member bodies in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the
technical content of IEC, ISO and ISO/IEC publications is accurate, IEC or ISO cannot be held responsible for
the way in which they are used or for any misinterpretation by any end user.
5) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC and ISO member bodies undertake to apply IEC, ISO and
ISO/IEC publications transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications.
Any divergence between any ISO/IEC publication and the corresponding national or regional publication
should be clearly indicated in the latter.
6) ISO and IEC provide no marking procedure to indicate their approval and cannot be rendered responsible for
any equipment declared to be in conformity with an ISO/IEC publication.
7) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
8) No liability shall attach to IEC or ISO or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts
and members of their technical committees and IEC or ISO member bodies for any personal injury, property
damage or other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees)
and expenses arising out of the publication of, use of, or reliance upon, this ISO/IEC publication or any other IEC,
ISO or ISO/IEC publications.
9) Attention is drawn to the normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
10) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this Technical Report, type XX may be the
subject of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
The main task of IEC and ISO technical committees is to prepare International Standards. In
exceptional circumstances, ISO/IEC JTC 1 or a subcommittee may propose the publication of
a technical report of one of the following types:
• type 1, when the required support cannot be obtained for the publication of an
International Standard, despite repeated efforts;
• type 2, when the subject is still under technical development or where, for any other
reason, there is the future but not immediate possibility of an agreement on an
International Standard;
• type 3, when the technical committee has collected data of a different kind from that which
is normally published as an International Standard, for example ‘state of the art’.
Technical reports of types 1 and 2 are subject to review within three years of publication to
decide whether they can be transformed into International Standards. Technical reports of

– 6 – TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E)
type 3 do not necessarily have to be reviewed until the data they provide are considered to be
no longer valid or useful.
ISO/IEC TR 14165-312, which is a technical report of type 2, was prepared by subcom-
mittee 25: Interconnection of information technology equipment, of ISO/IEC joint technical
committee 1: Information technology.
This document is issued in the type 2 technical report series of publications (according to
th
16.2.2 of the Procedures for the technical work of ISO/IEC JTC 1 (5 edition, 2004)) as a
prospective standard for provisional application in the field of avionics, because there is an
urgent requirement for guidance on how standards in this field should be used.
This document is not to be regarded as an International Standard. It is proposed for
provisional application so that information and experience of its use in practice may be
gathered. Comments on the content of this document should be sent to IEC Central Office.
A review of this type 2 technical report will be carried out not later than three years after its
publication with the option of extension for a further three years, conversion into an
International Standard or withdrawal.
This Technical Report has been approved by vote of the member bodies, and the voting
results may be obtained from the address given on the second title page.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E) – 7 –
INTRODUCTION
This part of ISO/IEC 14165 defines a set of features necessary to implement a real-time Fibre
Channel network (point-to-point, switched fabric, or arbitrated loop) supporting the
FC-AE-1553 Upper Level Protocol.
FC-AE-1553 is intended to support bi-directional communication between two or more
N_Ports in a constrained and carefully defined environment, typical of avionics applications.
The intended usage is avionic command, control, instrumentation, simulation, signal
processing, file distribution, and sensor/video data distribution. These application areas are
characterized by a variety of requirements, among them a need for high reliability, fault
tolerance, and deterministic behavior to support real-time command/response.
The FC-AE-1553 protocol is based on MIL-STD-1553B Notice 2 with extensions in bandwidth,
address space, and data transfer size in order to support low-latency, low overhead
communication between elements of a mission-critical avionics system. Some of the key
features of FC-AE-1553 are its command/response protocol; options for acknowledged or
unacknowledged messaging, RDMA transfers, file transfers; along with the capability to bridge
to legacy MIL-STD-1553 terminals.
This part of ISO/IEC 14165 is divided into 4 clauses:
Clause 1 is the scope of this part of ISO/IEC 14165.
Clause 2 enumerates the normative references that apply to this part of ISO/IEC 14165.
Clause 3 describes the definitions, abbreviations, and conventions used in this part of
ISO/IEC 14165.
Clause 4 defines the FC-AE-1553 Upper Level Protocol. This clause indicates whether
features are Required, Prohibited, Allowed, or Invocable in FC-AE-1553.
This part of ISO/IEC 14165 has three annexes:
Annex A is a normative annex which defines Process Login for the FC-AE-1553 upper
layer protocol.
Annex B is an informative annex that contains a profile of the FC-FS and FC-AL-2
standards as an example for avionics Fibre Channel network which uses FC-AE-1553.
Annex C is an informative annex providing information regarding bridging between
FC-AE-1553 Fibre Channel networks and MIL-STD-1553 buses.

– 8 – TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E)
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY –
FIBRE CHANNEL –
Part 312: Avionics environment
upper layer protocol (FC-AE 1553)

1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 14165 is intended to serve as an implementation guide to maximize the
likelihood of interoperability between conforming implementations. This part of ISO/IEC 14165
Prohibits or Requires features that are optional, and Prohibits the use of some non-optional
features in the referenced specifications (see Clause 2).
In addition, this part of ISO/IEC 14165 simplifies implementations and their associated docu-
mentation, testing, and support requirements.
This Technical Report does not define internal characteristics of conformant implementations.
This part of ISO/IEC 14165 incorporates features from the normative references in Clause 2.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
The provisions of the referenced specifications other than ISO/IEC, IEC, ISO and ITU
documents, as identified in this clause, are valid within the context of this document. The
reference to such a specification within this document does not give it any further status
within ISO or IEC. In particular, it does not give the referenced specification the status of an
International Standard.
ISO/IEC 14165-122, Information technology – Fibre channel – Part 122: Arbitrated loop–2
(FC-AL-2) [INCITS 332-1999]
ISO/IEC 14165-251, Information technology – Fibre channel – Part 251: Framing and
signalling (FC-FS) [ANSI INCITS 373:2003]
ISO/IEC 14165-261, Information technology – Fibre Channel – Part 261: Link Services
(FC-LS) (in preparation)
ANSI INCITS 424, Information technology – Fibre channel – Framing and Signaling-2
(FC-FS-2)
3 Terms, definitions and conventions
3.1 General considerations
For FC-AE-1553 (this document), the following terms and definitions, conventions,
abbreviations, and acronyms apply. Words used that are defined in referenced standards
shall use that definition. Words not defined here or in the referenced standards shall have the
standard technical English meaning. See 3.3 for typographical conventions in order to
distinguish words or phrases that have special definitions.

TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E) – 9 –
Some definitions from the glossary or body of other standards are included here for easy
reference.
3.2 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document the following terms and definitions apply.
3.2.1
Command Sequence
FC-AE-1553 Fibre Channel Sequence that is always the first Sequence of any FC-AE-1553
Exchange and is always issued by a Network Controller (NC); Command Sequences always
have the Information Category bits in the R_CTL field set to 0110’b
NOTE Some profiles may require that all Command Sequences be transmitted as single frames.
3.2.2
Data Sequence
FC-AE-1553 Fibre Channel Sequence that is sent by either an NT or NC; Data Sequences
always have the Information Category bits in the R_CTL field set to 0100’b
3.2.3
exchange
basic mechanism which transfers information consisting of one or more related non-
concurrent Sequences which may flow in the same or opposite directions
3.2.4
First/Middle/Last
FML
provides an indication of Sequence position within Exchange, where F = first, M = middle, and
L = last
3.2.5
frame
information contained in a frame between its Start-of-Frame and End-of-Frame delimiters,
excluding the delimiters
3.2.6
Information Category
frame header field indicating the category to which the frame payload belongs (e.g., Solicited
Data, Unsolicited Data, Solicited Control and Unsolicited Control)
3.2.7
Network Controller
NC
Fibre Channel Node that transmits FC-AE-1553 Command Sequences (akin to a Bus
Controller or BC in MIL-STD-1553)
3.2.8
Network Terminal
NT
Fibre Channel Node that responds to commands issued by the Network Controller (NC) using
FC-AE-1553 protocol (akin to a Remote Terminal or RT in MIL-STD-1553)
3.2.9
sequence
set of one or more Data frames with a common Sequence_ID (SEQ_ID), transmitted
unidirectionally from one N_Port to another N_Port with a corresponding response, if
applicable, transmitted in response to each Data frame

– 10 – TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E)
3.2.10
Sequence Initiative
within an Exchange, a Sequence Initiator may either hold Sequence Initiative by transmitting
the next Sequence in the Exchange, or transfer Sequence Initiative to the current Sequence
recipient; in the latter case, the consecutive sequence recipient transmits the next Sequence
in the Exchange
NOTE Abbreviations include: SI = Sequence Initiative, H = hold, and T = transfer. The Sequence Initiative is
bit 16 in the Exchange/Sequence Control (F_CTL) field of the Fibre Channel header.
3.2.11
Status Sequence
FC-AE-1553 Fibre Channel Sequence that in most cases is the first Sequence transmitted by
an FC-AE-1553 NT
NOTE 1 Status Sequences have the Information Category bits in the R_CTL field set to 0111’b. Some Status
Sequences provide an indication of the maximum number of data bytes that the NT is able to receive in the next
Data Sequence.
NOTE 2 Some profiles may require that all Status Sequences be transmitted as single-frame Sequences.
3.3 Conventions
3.3.1 General
In this document, a number of conditions, mechanisms, sequences, parameters, events,
states, or similar terms that do not have their normal English meaning are printed with the
following conventions.
• The first letter of each word in uppercase and the rest lowercase (e.g., Exchange, Class,
etc.).
• A term consisting of multiple words, with the first letter of each word in uppercase and the
rest lowercase, and each word separated from the other by an underscore (_) character. A
word may consist of an acronym or abbreviation, which would be printed in uppercase.
(e.g., NL_Port, Transfer_Length, etc.).
All terms and words not conforming to the conventions noted above have the normal technical
English meanings.
Numbered items in this part of ISO/IEC 14165 do not represent any priority. Any priority is
explicitly indicated.
In all of the figures, tables, and text of this Technical Report, the most significant bit of a
binary quantity is shown on the left side. Exceptions to this convention are indicated in the
appropriate subclauses.
The term “shall” is used to indicate a mandatory rule. If such a rule is not followed, the results
are unpredictable unless indicated otherwise.
The fields or control bits that are not applicable shall be set as required by the appropriate
technical report.
If a field or a control bit is specified as not meaningful, the recipient shall not check that field
or control bit. The Sequence Initiator shall set all such fields or control bits to zero.
In several tables within this document, there is a column on the right side of the table labelled
“Notes”. These notes are NORMATIVE and shall be considered requirements of this Technical
Report.
TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E) – 11 –
In the event of conflict between the text, tables, and figures in this document, the following
precedence shall be used: tables (highest), text and figures (lowest).
3.3.2 Binary notation
Binary notation may be used to represent some fields. Single bit fields are represented using
the binary values 0 and 1. For multiple bit fields, the binary value is enclosed in single
quotation marks followed by the letter b. For example, a four-byte field containing a binary
value may be represented as ‘00000000 11111111 10011000 11111010’b.
3.3.3 Hexadecimal notation
Hexadecimal notation may be used to represent some fields. When this is done, the value is
enclosed in single quotation marks and preceded by the word hex. For example, a four-byte
field containing a binary value of ‘00000000 11111111 10011000 11111010’b is shown in
hexadecimal format as hex ’00 FF 98 FA’.
3.3.4 Abbreviations and acronyms
Abbreviations and acronyms applicable to this part of ISO/IEC 14165 are listed below.
Abbreviations and acronyms for commonly used terms defined in referenced standards are
not listed here (e.g., LIP is defined in FC-AL-2).
FC-AE-1553 The mnemonic used to define this FC-AE-1553 profile
NC Network Controller
NC1 to NC7 Network Controller Information Units
NT Network Terminal
NT1 to NT8 Network Terminal Information Units
3.4 Applicability and use of this document
Since the nature of this document is a profile, the usual definitions of the following words do
not apply. These definitions need to be read carefully.
Required: If a feature or parameter value is Required, it means that it shall be used between
compliant implementations. Compliant implementations are required to implement the feature.
An implementation may use the feature or other features to communicate with non-compliant
implementations. Interoperability is not guaranteed if Required features are not implemented.
Each Required feature will include a note that describes the condition(s) in which the feature
must be used.
Invocable: If a feature or parameter value is Invocable, it means that it may be used between
compliant implementations. Compliant implementations are required to implement the feature.
Invocable is different from Required in that an implementation may invoke the feature if
needed, but is not required to invoke it. No discovery process is necessary prior to use of an
Invocable feature.
Allowed: If a feature or parameter value is Allowed, it means that it may be used between
compliant implementations. Compliant implementations are not required to implement the
feature. Typically, the potential user of an Allowed feature may determine through a
negotiation or discover process if an implementation supports it via an Invocable discovery
process.
Prohibited: If a feature is Prohibited, it means that it shall not be used between compliant
implementations. An implementation may use the feature to communicate with non-compliant
implementations. This document does not Prohibit the implementation of features, only their
use between compliant implementations. However, interoperability is not guaranteed if
Prohibited features are used.
– 12 – TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E)
Table 1 summarizes the above definitions.
Table 1 – Summary and use of features
Term Implementation Use
Required Shall Shall
Invocable Shall May
Allowed May May
Prohibited May Shall Not
The tables in the following clauses list features described in the various technical reports
specific to the operations described in the clause. These tables indicate whether the feature is
Required, Prohibited, Invocable, or Allowed for compliance with this report; or whether a
parameter is Required to be a particular value for compliance with this report. Features or
parameters that are not listed do not affect the interoperability of FC-AE devices.
The following legend is used for table entries in these clauses:
‘R’ Required
‘I’ Invocable
‘A’ Allowed
‘P’ Prohibited
‘n’ the parameter shall be set to this value
‘X’ this parameter has no required value; any value is Allowed
‘-’ this parameter or feature is not meaningful
4 FC-AE-1553 profile
4.1 General
This clause describes an FC-4 mapping layer intended to provide a deterministic
command/response protocol for use in real-time flight critical and mission critical avionics
applications. One of the primary motivations for this ULP mapping is to enable the leveraging
of existing system designs, hardware, and software written for MIL-STD-1553 avionics
networks. The mnemonic for this upper layer protocol is FC-AE-1553.
This clause includes a description of the differences between MIL-STD-1553B and
FC-AE-1553, information relating to mapping and bridging to legacy 1553 devices, a
description of the FC-AE-1553 Exchange formats, a profile delineating the required and
optional FC-AE-1553 features, a delineation of Exchange validation criteria, the mapping from
the FC-AE-1553 ULP to Fibre Channel FC-FS and FC-AL-2, and a profile section specifying
the required, optional and prohibited FC-FS and FC-AL-2 Fibre Channel features.
4.2 FC-AE-1553 elements
Some of the key FC-AE-1553 elements are the Network Controller or NC, the Network
Terminal or NT, the Fibre Channel network itself; and in cases where legacy MIL-STD-1553
data buses are connected to the network, FC-AE-1553 to MIL-STD-1553 bridges, MIL-STD-
1553 buses, and MIL-STD-1553 RT devices. There may be one or multiple active Network
Controllers on an FC-AE-1553 network. One of the main functions of the Network Controllers
is to provide the scheduling of all FC-AE-1553 transmissions on the network.
Like MIL-STD-1553, FC-AE-1553 defines a command/response protocol, with an added
(controller) option to suppress status responses. The Network Terminal (NT) consists of a
Fibre Channel interface located inside a subsystem or sensor connected to a Fibre Channel

TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E) – 13 –
network. The NT's primary function is to perform data transfers between the subsystem and
the Fibre Channel network as directed by the Network Controller(s).
Individual nodes on an FC-AE-1553 network may function as NCs and NTs simultaneously.
While FC-AE-1553 is based largely on MIL-STD-1553B Notice 2 constructs, it includes
extensions that provide capability beyond standard MIL-STD-1553. These extensions include
the ability to allow for a substantially larger maximum number of terminals (2 ), increased
32 32
word counts (2 bytes), and a larger subaddress space (2 ).
FC-AE-1553 includes an option for RDMA (remote DMA) functionality, in which the
subaddress field is used as the starting byte address for a transfer to or from a remote NT’s
address space. For an RDMA type of Exchange, the value of the subaddress represents an
address on a 32-bit boundary. FC-AE-1553 also includes capabilities for file transfers. These
include multiple options enabling NTs or NCs receiving files to be able to regulate the timing
and size of individual transmitted Data Sequences.
Table 2 provides a comparison between terminology used in MIL-STD-1553 and FC-AE-1553.
Table 2 – Terminology equivalents between MIL-STD-1553 and FC-AE-1553
MIL-STD-1553 FC-AE-1553
Bus Controller (BC) Network Controller (NC)
Remote Terminal (RT) Network Terminal (NT)
RT Address Network Terminal Address
RT Subaddress NT Subaddress (NT_SA)
MIL-STD-1553 Message FC-AE-1553 Exchange
Command Word Command Sequence
Status Word Status Sequence
FC-AE-1553 also takes full advantage of the network topology offered by Fibre Channel (as
opposed to MIL-STD-1553’s bus topology), allowing simultaneous data traffic across the
network and multiple Network Controller entities. This mapping also supports the aggregation
of multiple MIL-STD-1553 buses into a common FC-AE-1553 network, while maintaining an
equivalent functionality of individual MIL-STD-1553 buses.
Unless otherwise stated, all references to data field sizes for FC-AE-1553 are in bytes, rather
than 16-bit words. However, for FC-AE-1553 Exchanges which are bridged to MIL-STD-1553
messages, there are specific references to 16-bit words transmitted over MIL-STD-1553
buses.
4.3 Mapping legacy 1553 applications to FC-AE-1553
4.3.1 General
A fundamental purpose of the FC-AE-1553 mapping is to enable interoperability for interfacing
legacy MIL-STD-1553 remote terminals to a Fibre Channel network.
The FC-AE-1553 protocol supports the mapping of legacy MIL-STD-1553 16-bit command
words to FC-AE-1553 header extension fields (see Table 7). The use of the Fibre Channel
frame header and FC-AE-1553 header extension fields in FC-AE-1553 applications supports
larger RT address and subaddress spaces, and larger data payload sizes than MIL-STD-
1553. These differences are summarized in Table 3.

– 14 – TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E)
Table 3 – Comparison of MIL-STD-1553 and FC-AE-1553 Command Field Sizes
MIL-STD-1553 FC-AE-1553
RT Address 5 bit NT Address (D_ID / S_ID) 24 bit
Subaddress 5 bit NT Subaddress (NT_SA) 32 bit
a
Word Count/Mode Code 5 bit Byte Count/Mode Code 32 bit
a
The Mode Code field is the lower 5 bit of the Byte Count/Mode Code field.
While FC-AE-1553 applications will be able to leverage the increased command field sizes,
the following provisions accommodate the mapping of legacy MIL-STD-1553 applications to
FC-AE-1553.
4.3.2 NT address
Any port on a FC-AE-1553 network may operate as a Network Controller (NC), akin to a MIL-
STD-1553 Bus Controller, or BC; a Network Terminal (NT), akin to a MIL-STD-1553 Remote
Terminal or RT; or both. For Command and Data Sequences transmitted by Network
Controllers, the 24-bit Fibre Channel D_ID or NT Address field performs the function of the
MIL-STD-1553 5-bit RT address field, while the Fibre Channel S_ID field is used to specify an
NT address for the Network Controller. For Status and Data Sequences transmitted by
Network Terminals, the 24-bit S_ID field provides acknowledgement by indicating the
terminal’s “NT Address”, while the value of the D_ID field is the port address of the
destination NC or, for an NT-to-NT transfer Exchange, the destination NT.
FC-AE-1553 includes provisions to support bridging to existing MIL-STD-1553 (1 MHz) RTs.
To enable this bridging, the upper 22 bit (31 to 10) of the FC-AE-1553 Subaddress field may
be used to identify a specific FC-AE-1553-to-MIL-STD-1553 bridge that’s built into an N_Port
or NL_Port. If Subaddress bits (31 to 10) identify a bridge, then, for a particular FC-AE-1553
Exchange, bits (9 to 5) identify the MIL-STD-1553 RT address of the bridged RT, while
bits (4 to 0) identify the Subaddress of the bridged MIL-STD-1553 RT.
FC-AE-1553 supports multiple options for implementing broadcast and multicast:
a) all FC-AE-1553 NTs and NCs shall recognize the Fibre Channel well known broadcast
address of hex ‘FF FF FF’;
b) all FC-AE-1553 NTs and NCs on an arbitrated loop shall recognize the broadcast replicate
AL_PA address of hex ‘FF’;
c) to support broadcast functionality for RTs on a MIL-STD-1553 bus bridged from an
FC-AE-1553 port, the NC may specify a value of hex ‘1F’ (the MIL-STD-1553 broadcast
address) for (9 to 5) of the FC-AE-1553 Subaddress field. For such an Exchange, the
value of the FC-AE-1553 D_ID field is not required to be ‘FF FF FF’;
d) FC-AE-1553 Network Terminals on a fabric shall respond to arbitrary alias addresses
(multicast groups);
e) FC-AE-1553 Network Terminals on an arbitrated loop shall support selective replicate.
4.3.3 NT subaddress
As shown in Table 7, words 6 through 11 of all FC-AE-1553 Command Sequences following
the Fibre Channel Header comprise the FC-AE-1553 Command Sequence header extension.
For all Command Sequences, word 7 in Table 7 is used to specify the FC-AE-1553
subaddress. The FC-AE-1553 subaddress values of either hex ’00 00 00 00’ or
hex ‘FF FF FF FF’ shall specify an FC-AE-1553 mode code Exchange, akin to hex ‘00’ and
hex ‘1F’ for the MIL-STD-1553 subaddress field. For all Exchanges involving data transfers,
FC-AE-1553 provides an option for RDMA (remote direct memory access). When this option is

TR 14165-312 © ISO/IEC:2009(E) – 15 –
invoked, the subaddress field is used to designate the 32-bit starting byte address for a
transmitting and/or receiving NT. For an NT-to-NT transfer, the NC has the option of using
either or both of the receive and/or transmitting subaddresses to specify DMA starting
address(es) in NT memory.
A FC-AE-1553 NT (N_Port or NL_Port) may connect to one or more Fibre-Channel-to-MIL-
STD-1553 bridges. To enable FC-AE-1553 Exchanges to be bridged to messages to
MIL-STD-1553 RTs, the upper 22 bit of the FC-AE-1553 subaddress field may be used to
designate a particular MIL-STD-1553 bus (bridge) connected with a specific NT. To prevent
conflicts with FC-AE-1553 mode code Exchanges, values of the subaddress field for which the
upper 22 bit are all zeros or all ones shall not be used to designate the 1553 bus number for a
b
...