| CPC H04L 7/10 (2013.01) | 18 Claims |

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1. A method performed by a first network device, comprising:
reaching a synchronization state with a first communication device based on alignment information of a first interface of the first network device, wherein the first interface of the first network device is connected with the first communication device and the alignment information of the first interface includes at least one of a line rate order for line rate iteration, an iteration time interval and an iteration start time;
communicating with a second network device to auto-negotiate a line rate, in which the second network device operates independently from the first network device to reach a synchronization state with a second communication device based on alignment information of a second interface of the second network device, wherein the second interface of the second network device is connected with the second communication device and the alignment information of the second interface includes at least one of a line rate order for line rate iteration, an iteration time interval and an iteration start time;
determining whether the second network device has reached a synchronization state with the second communication device based on alignment information of the second interface of the second network device connected with the second communication device; and
when both the first network device and the second network device have reached a same synchronization state with respective communication devices at a same line rate, locking the same line rate at the first interface of the first network device and at the second interface of the second network device in order to transfer data.
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