A communications system includes N parallel communications channels connecting first and second devices. The N channels may include N−1 channels for carrying information symbols, and an Nth channel for facilitating deskewing and word framing. The first device may include an alignment symbol generator for generating alignment symbols on the Nth channel, and a word framing code generator for generating word framing codes on the Nth channel. The second device may include a deskewer for aligning received information symbols based upon the alignment symbols, and a word framer for determining word framing based upon the word framing codes. The word frame code generator in the first device or transmitter, and the word framer in the second device or receiver provide the desired feature of knowledge of where each word starts or begins. The start of each word may be determined in terms of a time and a corresponding one of the N−1 channels where the word starts. The word framing code generator may generate word framing codes comprising at least one predetermined word framing code. Alternately, the word framing code generator may generate word framing codes including at least one changeable word framing code based upon information symbols.