Patent ID: 7873773

Claim:
A circuit arrangement, comprising: first and second data ports respectively configured to communicate over first and second communication links that couple together a plurality of nodes in a daisy chain configuration; and a control circuit configured to selectively configure the first data port and the second data port to selectively operate in unidirectional and bidirectional modes such that the first data port is configured to communicate the second type of data only when configured in the bidirectional mode and the second data port is configured to communicate the first type of data only when configured in the bidirectional mode; wherein the first data port is configured to exclusively communicate the first type of data when configured in the unidirectional mode, wherein the second data port is configured to exclusively communicate the second type of data when configured in the unidirectional mode, wherein the first and second data ports are each configured to communicate both the first and second types of data when in the bidirectional mode, wherein each of the first and second communication links is of the type including at least one interconnect between each pair of adjacent nodes in the daisy chain configuration, wherein each of the first and second data ports is disposed in a first node among the plurality of nodes and configured to couple to at least one interconnect between the first node and a second, adjacent node in the daisy chain configuration, and wherein the first and second nodes each comprise a memory module.