8b10b PAM4 encoding

Encoding PAM4 or PAM8 symbols to have a power spectral density (PSD) similar to the PSD of a standard 8b10b Non-Return-to-Zero stream. In one embodiment, a transmitter includes first and second 8b10b encoders that receive first and second streams split from an original byte stream. The first and second 8b10b encoders output first and second 8b10b streams, respectively. The first and second 8b10b streams are fed into a 2-bit combiner that performs a linear combination of the first and second 8b10b streams. And a 4-level Pulse Amplitude Modulation encoder (PAM4 encoder) converts the linear combination of each two bits, received from the combiner, into a PAM4 symbol. Wherein the resulting stream of PAM4 symbols has PSD similar to the PSD of the standard 8b10b non-return-to-zero stream.