Patent ID: 7979608

Claim:
A method comprising: a) receiving a plurality of symbol sequences in a first integrated circuit (IC) device, the symbol sequences having been transmitted in parallel by a second IC device using the same transmit clock over a serial point to point link that couples the first and second IC devices, wherein each symbol sequence includes an instance of a first non-data symbol; b) buffering the plurality of symbol sequences and changing the number of times an instance of a second non-data symbol occurs in one of the plurality of symbol sequences; and c) performing a first deskew process and then a second deskew process, the first deskew process includes aligning an instance of the first non-data symbol in every one of the buffered plurality of symbol sequences, wherein the aligning in the first deskew process includes inserting an instance of the second non-data symbol, in a selected one of the buffered plurality of symbol sequences, that leads the instance of the first non-data symbol in the selected sequence, the second deskew process includes equalizing the number of instances of the second non-data symbol that follow an instance of the first non-data symbol, in every one of the plurality of symbol sequences.