A chip-to-chip communications circuit which is particularly well-suited for short range communication (less than a few inches) from one integrated circuit (chip) to another is presented. The circuits preferably utilize multi-frequency quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) mechanisms for converting digital data bits from a parallel form into a serial analog stream for communication over a chip I/O connection. Differential current mode modulation in the transmitter, and demodulation in the receiver, are utilized which reduce latency and power-consumption while increasing manufacturing yields and resilience to process variations.