Abstract: A clock and data recovery circuit and method are used in a digital data communications system. The circuit and method are effectively employed for high speed, burst-mode transmission and allow rapid recovery of the clock and data signals without the need for an extended header, and notwithstanding the presence of substantial timing jitter. The method adaptively selects from among three delay times for the extraction of data by identifying a frequently recurring incoming pattern in the incoming data. The delay time is selected in a manner that insures that the same pattern is present in the reconstructed, resynchronized output data.