Patent ID: 8724483

Claim:
A bi-directional communication bus system comprising: a first component; a second component; a first portion configured to communicate signals between said first component and said second component, wherein said first portion is operable to implement a first lane; and a second portion configured to communicate signals between said first component and said second component, wherein said second portion is operable to implement a second lane; and wherein said first and second portions are operable to implement a plurality of loopback configurations one configuration at a time for communicating signals between said first and second components, wherein a first loopback configuration of said plurality of loopback configurations comprises a contemporaneous communication of signals in a first direction over said first portion and in a second direction over said second portion in a first configuration setting, wherein a second loopback configuration of said plurality of loopback configurations comprises a contemporaneous communication of signals in said second direction over said first portion and in said first direction over said second portion, wherein said second component comprises an interface component operable to couple said first and second portions in a second configuration setting, and wherein said interface component is further operable to couple said first and second portions to an auxiliary interface.