A communication system includes link circuits that receive serial data over one or more input serial links. The link circuits include a primary link circuit and a secondary link circuit. The secondary link circuit includes a de-serializer circuit configured to receive the serial data from the one or more input serial links and convert the serial data into parallel data, and an aligner circuit comprising a memory. The aligner circuit stops at least one of storing the parallel data in the memory and reading the memory based on a channel bonding signal generated based on a channel bonding symbol within the serial data. The aligner circuit outputs the channel bonding signal to a finite state machine (FSM) circuit of the primary link circuit. The aligner circuit outputs the parallel data based on receiving a read signal from the FSM circuit of the primary link circuit.