Transmission mode signaling

A method comprising:

• inducing a transient return current on a reference plane in response to a driving agent sourcing a current onto a first transmission line, the current being representative of binary data;
• propagating energy of the transient return current to a slot in the reference plane;
• inducing a transient voltage pulse onto a second transmission line connected to a receiving agent when the propagating energy encounters the second transmission line;
• and
• generating a binary digital signal in the receiving agent from the transient voltage pulse received on the second transmission line.

A method comprising:

• in a bus, sourcing a current being representative of binary data on to a first line;
• inducing a return current on a reference plane;
• and
• transferring energy of the return current to a slot in the reference plane.

Apparatus comprising:

• a substrate;
• a ground plane on the substrate, the ground plane having a slot;
• parallel arranged transmission lines lying over the slot;
• and
• data processing agents each connected to one of the parallel arranged transmission lines.