Overview
ISO/IEC 14165-321:2009 (FC‑AV) specifies how to transport audio‑video (AV) streams over Fibre Channel. It defines a protocol that uses standard FC frame formats, Sequences and Exchanges to carry AV content (compressed and uncompressed) across Fibre Channel links. The standard is written for Fibre Channel networks running at data rates described in the Fibre Channel family (scope text notes up to 2 Gbit/s with growth to 10 Gbit/s) and supports typical FC topologies: point‑to‑point, switched fabric and arbitrated loop.
Key topics and technical requirements
- FC‑AV Container system: container and extended header structures, Container Information Block and Object Information Block for packaging AV objects.
- Object classification: object type/index fields to identify uncompressed video/audio, compressed streams, graphics, ancillary data, vendor‑specific and negotiated types.
- Compressed FC‑AV stream transmission: stream header and descriptor, CDS (Content Data Stream) packet format and length, byte counts and payload handling.
- Synchronization: time stamping and sync schemes for MPEG, frame/field compression and other stream types to preserve AV timing.
- Error management and FEC: policies for forward error correction (FEC), discard/retransmit behavior, and error processing with and without FEC.
- Instance mappings: examples and profiles, including DV‑based streams and MPEG‑TS carried as CDS packets.
- Frame Header Control Protocol: network profile, topology considerations, classes of service and frame header control mechanisms for AV use.
Practical applications
- Transporting live or stored AV content over Fibre Channel SANs and networks in environments that require deterministic, high‑speed serial transport.
- Interfacing professional video equipment, media servers and storage systems that need AV stream encapsulation and timing preservation on FC links.
- Implementing AV streaming in broadcast, post‑production, pro AV installations, and specialized data centers where Fibre Channel is used for high‑throughput, low‑latency transport.
Who uses this standard
- Systems integrators and broadcast engineers designing AV-over-Fibre Channel solutions.
- Hardware manufacturers building FC switches, HBAs and AV interfaces that must encapsulate or decode FC‑AV containers.
- Software developers implementing protocol stacks, stream handlers and storage solutions for AV workflows.
- Network and storage architects specifying deterministic transport for professional media applications.
Related standards
- Other parts of the Fibre Channel (FC) family (FC frame format, sequence/exchange definitions and FC‑FS profiles).
- Compression and transport standards referenced in use cases (for example, MPEG‑TS and DV stream formats) and general AV timing/metadata standards.
Keywords: Fibre Channel, FC‑AV, audio‑video streaming, FC frame format, FC containers, compressed AV, MPEG‑TS, DV, forward error correction, synchronization, media over SAN.