ENABLING SYNC HEADER SUPPRESSION LATENCY OPTIMIZATION IN THE PRESENCE OF RETIMERS FOR SERIAL INTERCONNECT

Methods and apparatuses associated with a secure stream protocol for a serial interconnect are disclosed herein. In embodiments, an apparatus comprises a multi-protocol multiplexer to receive at least one of first information of a first interconnect protocol or second information of a second interconnect protocol, the multi-protocol multiplexer to direct the at least one of the first information or the second information to a physical layer; and the physical layer coupled to the multi-protocol multiplexer, wherein the physical layer is to receive the first information of the first interconnect protocol and transmit a packet on a plurality of lanes of a serial interconnect, the packet comprising a protocol ID and payload information comprising a plurality of flits. The physical layer is to send the protocol ID in 8-bit chunks on two consecutive lanes of the plurality of lanes, wherein the protocol ID is to be sent prior to each of the plurality of flits, send the plurality of flits on the plurality of lanes, and send an ordered set after a predetermined number of data blocks, during a mode in which sync headers are suppressed. Additional features and other embodiments are also disclosed.