8. The method of claim 2 , wherein: the receiving comprises receiving sequential words each having a byte width proportional to number of the lanes; the checking for the EOF character comprises: examining bytes in an initial word including the SOF character; and if the EOF character is not found in the initial word, the method further comprising repeating for subsequent words the receiving, de-multiplexing, parsing and packing at least until finding the EOF character.
8. The method of claim 2 , wherein: the receiving comprises receiving sequential words each having a byte width proportional to number of the lanes; the checking for the EOF character comprises: examining bytes in an initial word including the SOF character; and if the EOF character is not found in the initial word, the method further comprising repeating for subsequent words the receiving, de-multiplexing, parsing and packing at least until finding the EOF character. 9. The method of claim 8 , wherein characters forming the words have a left to right relationship corresponding to time-ordered placement of the characters.