Patent ID: 7330444

Claim:
A computing system comprising: a first node coupled to a first communication link; and a second node coupled to the first node via said link; wherein the first node is configured to: convey a plurality of data packets of a first type to the second node via the link, each of said packets being conveyed according to a predetermined schedule; detect an inter-node communication message is available for transmission; and insert said message within one of said data packets; wherein the first node is configured to insert said message within one of said data packets responsive to determining the message does not exceed a predetermined size, and wherein in response to determining the message exceeds said size, the first node is configured to: partition the message into a first plurality of blocks each of said blocks being less than or equal to said size; encode the first plurality of blocks into a second plurality of blocks, said second plurality being greater than said first plurality; and insert each of the encoded blocks within a different one of said packets.