System and method for providing an ethernet interface

A method, comprising:

• receiving an information stream, the information stream carried over n electrical communication channels and m optical communication media interfaces;
• transforming the information stream from v virtual lanes, each virtual lane comprising a plurality of data blocks from the information stream and an alignment block, wherein:
• v is a positive integer multiple of the least common multiple of m and n;
• v is greater than n;
• and
• n is equal to m;
• and
• a plurality of virtual lane buffers, wherein:
• each of the plurality of virtual lane buffers is sized based on an amount of skew expected from electrical and optical components;
• and
• the size of each of the plurality of virtual lane buffers is determined prior to the electrical and optical components generating skew.

A system, comprising:

• a receiver for receiving an information stream, the information stream carried over n electrical communication channels and m optical communication media interfaces;
• one or more muxes for transforming the information stream from v virtual lanes, each virtual lane comprising a plurality of data blocks from the information stream and an alignment block, wherein:
• v is a positive integer multiple of the least common multiple of m and n;
• v is greater than n;
• and
• n is equal to m;
• and
• a plurality of virtual lane buffers, wherein:
• each of the plurality of virtual lane buffers is sized based on an amount of skew expected from electrical and optical components;
• and
• the size of each of the plurality of virtual lane buffers is determined prior to the electrical and optical components generating skew.