Methods and systems for communicating data and control information over a serial link

A communication system comprising:

• a digital data processor configured to produce a digital data sample and one or more control bits;
• a serialized transmit interface coupled to the digital data processor and to a first end of a signal line, wherein the serialized transmit interface is configured to
• assemble a data frame that includes the digital data sample in one or more first data packets and the one or more control bits in one or more second data packets, wherein the one or more control bits are configured to alter the state of a switch;
• and
• send the data frame over the signal line;
• a serialized receive interface coupled a second end of the signal line, wherein the serialized receive interface is configured to
• receive the data frame from the signal line,
• produce a reconstructed digital data sample from the one or more first data packets of the data frame, and
• produce the one or more control bits from the one or more second data packets of the data frame;
• and
• a control circuit coupled to the serialized receive interface, and configured to produce a control signal from the one or more control bits provided by the serialized receive interface, wherein the control circuit is configured to produce the control signal from the one or more control bits, wherein the control signal is configured to alter the state of the switch;
• a converter circuit configured to produce a radio frequency (RF) input signal by performing a digital-to-analog conversion of the reconstructed digital data sample to produce an analog data sample signal, and upconverting the analog data sample signal to RF;
• and a power amplifier that includes a sub-circuit that is controlled based on the control signal produced by the control circuit, wherein the power amplifier is configured to amplify the RF input signal, and to modify operation of the sub-circuit based on the control signal.