Abstract: A method for communicating between a first Fibre Channel (FC) enabled device and a second FC enabled device, where the communication occurs across a fabric that operates in accordance with a first protocol different from a FC protocol of the first and second FC enabled devices. The method includes receiving, from the first FC enabled device, at a first gateway receiver a sequence of bytes including at least one control character in accordance with the FC protocol. The method then includes replacing the at least one control character with at least one data character. The method also includes generating an encapsulation header and an encapsulation footer for encapsulating the sequence of bytes in which at least one control character was replaced with at least one data character. The method then includes setting a control character indicator in the encapsulation header if a first byte in the sequence of bytes received at the gateway receiver is a control character.