A method of detecting synchronization errors during the transfer of data in which a transmitting agent sends to the receiving agent either: (a) data parity encoded with a data parity function when the transmitting agent encodes data in one or more clock signals, or (b) header parity encoded with a header parity function when the transmitting agent encodes header information in the one or more clock signals. A synchronization error condition is detected when the receiving agent either: (a) is configured to receive the data parity and actually receives the header parity, or (b) is configured to receive the header parity and actually receives the data parity.