Patent ID: 7487426

Claim:
A system for transmitting digital data over a transmission medium, the system comprising: a receiver configured to receive digital values representing a plurality of N-bit characters to be output over the transmission medium, each of the N-bit characters being either a data character or a control character; a controller configured to determine which, if any, of the plurality of N-bit characters are control characters; an encoder configured to encode the digital values represented by the plurality of N-bit characters to provide an encoded codeword, the encoded codeword being {Mx(N−1) +P} bits having M fields of N−1 bits, each of said M fields corresponding to one of the N-bit characters being encoded, wherein the encoder is further configured to: designate, for each data character, the respective field of the M fields as a data field, designate, for each control character, the respective field of the M fields as a control field, and order the M fields to position any control fields at predetermined positions with respect to each other in the encoded codeword and to position any data fields at other remaining positions within the encoded codeword; and a transmitter configured to transmit the encoded codeword over the transmission medium, wherein M and N are integer values greater than 1, and wherein P is an integer value greater than or equal to 1.