The link layer contains the scrambler and
the 8b/10b encoding of any data passed on from the transport layer. Additionally, the
link layer also handles the initial lane alignment sequence that can be manually
restarted. The link layer test patterns are intended for testing the quality of the link
(jitter testing and so forth). The test patterns do not pass through the 8b/10b encoder
and contain the options listed in
Table 6-41.