Patent ID: 8108545

Claim:
A method, in a data processing system, for packet coalescing in virtual channels of the data processing system, the method comprising: bundling, by a first integrated switch/router integrated into a first processor, original data, in the first processor, into a data packet to be transmitted along a path to a destination processor, the original data being stored in one or more virtual channels of a first plurality of virtual channels within the first processor, wherein the original data comprises payload data and overhead data and wherein the first plurality of virtual channels is determined by the first integrated switch/router that allocates one virtual channel for every hop of a longest indirect communication link in the data processing system from the first processor to the destination processor; transmitting, by the first integrated switch/router, the data packet to a second processor along the path to the destination processor; determining, by a second integrated switch/router integrated into the second processor, whether the second processor has additional payload data stored in one or more virtual channels of a second plurality of virtual channels within the second processor that is destined for the same destination processor, the additional payload data being provided by the second processor that is different from the first processor, wherein the second plurality of virtual channels is determined by the second integrated switch/router that allocates one virtual channel for every hop of the longest indirect communication link in the data processing system from the first processor to the destination processor; responsive to the second processor having the additional payload data destined for the same destination processor in the one or more virtual channels within the second processor, the second integrated switch/router: unbundles the data packet, adds the additional payload data to the payload data, updates the overhead data with information regarding the additional payload data thereby forming updated overhead data, and rebundles the payload data along with the additional payload data and the undated overhead data into a rebundled data packet; and transmitting, by the second integrated switch/router. the rebundled data packet to at least one other processor along the path to the destination processor.