A circuit for detecting a signal is designed with a first serial circuit coupled to receive an input signal in response to a clock signal. The first serial circuit (121) has N taps (142-146) arranged to produce a respective plurality of first tap signals from the input signal (111). A first logic circuit (130, 132, 134, 148) is coupled to receive the plurality of first tap signals and one of N predetermined signals and the complement of N predetermined signals. The first logic circuit produces a first output signal (150) in response to the clock signal, the plurality of first tap signals and the one of N predetermined signals and the complement of N predetermined signals. A second serial circuit coupled to receive the first output signal. The second serial circuit has M taps (150, 172-184) arranged to produce a respective plurality of second tap signals from the first output signal, wherein a ratio of N/M is no greater than four. A second logic circuit (186) is coupled to receive one of a true and a complement of each of the plurality of second tap signals. The second logic circuit produces a second output signal (188) in response to the one of a true and a complement of each of the plurality of second tap signals.