Patent ID: 8385188

Claim:
A transceiver, comprising: a first port configured to transmit and to receive data over a first plurality of parallel lanes; a second port configured to transmit and to receive the data, over a second plurality of parallel lanes; and a switch selectively coupled to the first port and the second port; wherein the switch is configured to activate the second port and to deactivate the first port when at least one of: (i) the data at a first lane from among the first plurality of parallel lanes is misaligned, (ii) a number of errors at a second lane from among the first plurality of parallel lanes exceeds a threshold, or (iii) the data at a third lane from among the first plurality of parallel lanes is misaligned with the data at other lanes from among the first plurality of parallel lanes, and wherein the switch is further configured to begin its determination of whether the data at the first lane is misaligned substantially simultaneously with its determination of whether the number of errors at the second lane exceeds the threshold and its determination of whether the data at the third lane is misaligned with the data at the other lanes.