In a proximity communication system, transmit elements on one chip are aligned with receive elements on a second chip juxtaposed with the first chip. However, if the elements are misaligned, either statically or dynamically, the coupling between chips is degraded. The misalignment may be compensated by controllably degrading performance of the system. For example, the transmit signal strength may be increased. The bit period or the time period for biasing each bit may be increased, thereby decreasing the bandwidth. Multiple coupling elements, such as capacitors, may be ganged together, thereby decreasing the number of channels. The granularity of symbols, such as images, may be increased by decreasing the number of bits per symbol. Multiple coupling elements, such as capacitors, may be ganged together, thereby decreasing the number of channels.