Manchester encoding – introduction Manchester encoding is a serial data signaling system originally developed at the University of Manchester for use on early generation computer systems with magnetic drum and 1600 bpi magnetic tape data storage devices. It is in widespread use today in network communication standards including 10BaseT Ethernet and MIL-STD-1553 as well as RFID, consumer IR devices and DALI lighting controls. Manchester waveforms are “self-clocked”; the clock signal is embedded in the transmitted data using an exclusive-OR Boolean function. Embedding the clock means that only one signal line is required, rather than two or three that are needed with standards such as I2C and SPI. Manchester waveforms can be decoded with PicoScope. From the Tools menu select Serial Decoding, then Create, and select Manchester from the list of available protocols. More information on Manchester encoded signals – serial protocol decoding >>