Symbols are prepared for transmission by representing each bit of the symbols by a cluster of consecutive bits, identical to the bit, in a transmission bit sequence. The transmission bit sequence is transmitted at a particular bit rate. A reception bit sequence of received bits is received at the particular bit rate, and the reception bit sequence is identical to the transmission bit sequence in the absence of errors. The symbols are reconstructed from the reception bit sequence of received bits by identifying boundaries of clusters of received bits in the reception bit sequence and selecting an inner bit of each of the clusters of received bits as a bit of a reconstructed symbol. The boundary identification involves comparing neighboring received bits. The transmission of the transmission bit sequence and reception of the reception bit sequence may conform to the Peripheral Components Interconnect (PCI) Express Specifications.