Systems and methods for improved synchronization between a transmit device and a receive device in a communication system. In one embodiment, an apparatus for transmitting bits of data over a link includes a scrambler to scramble data and circuitry configured to insert the scrambled data into frames and to transmit the frames in data blocks over the link. The apparatus also includes an initialization module configured to generate an unscrambled pseudo-random sequence. The circuitry is further configured to periodically insert the unscrambled pseudo-random sequence into a frame, to initialize the scrambler to a starting point based on the insertion of the unscrambled pseudo-random sequence into the frame, and to transmit the frame in a data block over the link.