Patent ID: 8768172

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a stream of datagrams, the datagrams having a first bit length; selecting a block of bits from a plurality of consecutively-received datagrams, the block having a second bit length greater than the first bit length, wherein the block comprises a block synchronization header and wherein the block synchronization header comprises the difference between the second bit length and the first bit length; determining whether the block synchronization header is present at a particular bit position within the block; in response to determining that the block synchronization header is present at the particular bit position, outputting the block as a valid block; and in response to determining that the block synchronization header is not present at the particular bit position: discarding a received datagram from the stream of datagrams to cause a bit slip in the stream of datagrams by a number of bits equal to the difference between the second bit length and the first bit length; repeating the receiving, selecting, determining, and discarding steps until a determination is made that the block synchronization header is present at the particular bit position; and outputting the block as a valid block when the determination is made that the block synchronization header is present at the particular bit position.