Abstract: A system and method are provided to support auto-negotiation between at least two communication devices among standards having different data rates. Base page configuration information and next page configuration information are exchanged between the at least two communication devices at a first data rate over a single serial channel. Ability matching is performed by the at least two communication devices using the base page and next page configuration information. A communication link is established between the at least two communication devices over the single serial channel at a negotiated first data rate, or over multiple parallel serial channels at a negotiated second effective data rate, depending on at least a result of the ability matching.