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Patent Number: 6,556,628
Date of Patent: 29 April 2003
Inventors: Poulton; John W. (Chapel Hill, NC), Tell; Stephen G. (Chapel Hill, NC), Palmer; Robert E. (Santa Clara, CA)
Assignee: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)
Appl. No.: 09/302,461
Filed: April 29, 1999
Int. Cl.: H04L 25/49 (20060101); H04L 25/08 (20060101); H04B 003/00
U.S. Cl.: 375/257 ; 375/286; 375/288; 375/316
33 Claims

Abstract
Methods and systems for differential signaling include transmitting differential signals over N conductors, where N is greater than 2, from a sender to a receiver. The sender includes multiple transmitters that receive digital data and produce output signals based on the digital data. The output signals result in currents on conductors between the transmitters and multiple receivers. For any given symbol, the sum of the currents on the conductors is preferably equal to zero. In addition, a voltage difference preferably exists across the input terminals of each receiver. Methods and systems for coding binary data for transmission over a multi-conductor differential signaling system include converting input binary data into symbol numbers, converting the symbol numbers into valid drive words for a multi-conductor differential signaling system, and inputting the valid drive words to multiple differential transmitters.