In one embodiment, a master device has a first port and a second port and initially applies a DC voltage only to the first port. A plurality of slave devices, each have a third port and a fourth port, are serially connected to the master device in a ring, via conductors, starting at the first port and ending at the second port. The conductors simultaneously carry the DC voltage and differential data. Each slave device, after performing a detection routine, then sequentially applies the DC voltage to the adjacent downstream slave device in a first direction around the ring. If the master does not detect the presence of the DC voltage at its second port, the master device applies the DC voltage to both the first port and the second port to sequentially power up the slave devices in both directions around the ring of slave devices.