Method and apparatus for framing a serial data stream

摘要

A method and apparatus for identifying at least a portion of a framing pattern in a data stream comprising a plurality of sequential bits. In the method embodiment, the method includes the step of identifying a set of successive candidate bits wherein the identified candidate bits are spaced apart from one another. The successive candidate bits include a first candidate bit, a last candidate bit, and a predetermined number of intermediary bits between the first candidate bit and the last candidate bit. Each of the intermediary bits has a numeric relative position between the first candidate bit and the last candidate bit. The method further includes the step of identifying a group of look ahead bits corresponding to each of the intermediary bits. Each of the groups has a number of look ahead bits, and the particular number of such bit for a given group equals the magnitude of the numeric relative position for the intermediary bit corresponding to the group. Lastly, the method includes the step of determining whether the candidate bit, the last candidate bit, and the intermediary bits match at least the portion of the framing pattern.