Patent ID: 8549092

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a first node group including: a first network node coupled to a first memory, the first network node including a first port, a second port, a processor port, and a hop port; a second network node coupled to a second memory, the second network node including a first port, a second port, a processor port, and a hop port, the hop port of the second network node coupled to the hop port of the first network node providing a hop path, the hop port of the second network node and the hop port of the first network node configured to communicate between the first network node and the second network node such that a request at the first network node, for data not in the first network node and not in the first memory coupled to the first network node, is automatically sent via the hop path to the second network node prior to being sent to another node group if the data is not in the second network node and not in the second memory coupled to the second network node; and a processor coupled to the processor port of the first network node and coupled to the processor port of the second network node, the processor configured to access the first memory through the first network node and the second memory through the second network node.