Low voltage differential signaling (LVDS)

Low voltage differential signaling, or LVDS, is an electrical signaling system that can run at very high speeds over cheap, twisted-pair copper cables. It was introduced in 1994, and has since become very popular in computers, where it forms part of very high-speed networks and computer buses.
LVDS uses the difference in voltage between two wires to signal information. The transmitter injects a small current, nominally 3.5 milliamperes, into one wire or the other, depending on the logic level to be sent. The current passes through a resistor of about 100 to 120 ohms (matched to the characteristic impedance of the cable) at the receiving end, then returns in the opposite direction along the other wire. From Ohm's law, the voltage difference across the resistor is therefore about 350 millivolts. The receiver senses the polarity of this voltage to determine the logic level. (This is a type of current loop signaling).