Patent ID: 6848003

Claim:
A data processing system comprising: at least one address channel; a plurality of nodes coupled to said at least one address channel, wherein each of said plurality of nodes has associated therewith a respective node identifier among a corresponding plurality of node identifiers, wherein each of said plurality of nodes contains at least one agent and a segment of a non-hierarchical segmented data channel that conveys data transactions; and destination logic coupling each segment of said segmented data channel to at least one other segment of said segmented data channel, wherein said destination logic sequences transmission of a data transaction on said segmented data channel such that said data transaction is transmitted on only one segment at a time and received by only agents within one node at a time, and wherein responsive to receipt of a data transaction on said segmented data channel in association with a destination identifier, said destination logic transmits said data transaction to a next segment of said segmented data channel only if said destination identifier does not match a node identifier associated with a node containing a current segment of the segmented data channel.