A system configured to transmit and receive data signals over a data link in serial fashion using dual phase pulse modulation (DPPM) is described. The data link may be, for example, a one or two wire unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable. An exemplary system includes a configurable interface (301) able to accept parallel data from an external source, such as a microprocessor or an imaging device. The interface (301) is externally programmable for a particular data format. An encoder is coupled to the configurable interface (301) and converts parallel data into serial output data, the serial output data having high and low data pulses with each of the high and low data pulses encoded to have one of 2 M distinct data pulse widths. The system further includes a decoder (303) coupled to the configurable interface (301), which is able to convert the serial input data into parallel data.