Clock and phase alignment between physical layers and controller

A method for synchronizing a plurality of physical (PHY) layers with a communication controller, the method comprising:

• receiving a clock signal from the plurality of PHY layers, wherein a frequency of the clock signal from the plurality of PHY layers does not match a frequency of a clock signal of the communication controller;
• multiplying the frequency of the clock signal from the plurality of PHY layers to match the frequency of the clock signal of communication controller;
• and
• aligning a phase of one or more data signals between the one or more PHY layers and the communication controller based on the multiplied clock signal and the clock signal from the plurality of PHY layers.

An integrated circuit, comprising:

• a plurality of physical (PHY) layers, each having a first clock signal with a first frequency and having a first plurality of channels;
• a communications controller having a second clock signal with a second frequency and having a second plurality of channels, wherein the second frequency of the second clock signal is greater than the first frequency of the first clock signal and a total number of channels of the plurality of PHY layers matches the second plurality of channels;
• and
• a clock multiplier configured to multiply the first frequency of the first clock signal to match the second frequency of the second clock signal to emulate a faster clock communication link between the plurality of PHY layers and the communications controller.