Communication system and method

A System in Package including at least two integrated circuits wherein each of said at least two integrated circuits includes a communication system comprising:

• a first circuit configured to divide data into a plurality of N-bit packets, the first circuit further configured to generate a transmission segment having a segment header and a payload, the payload including one N-bit packet of the plurality of N-bit packets;
• a second circuit configured to perform a flow control, routing, or quality of service control operation, wherein said third circuit is configured to generate at least one value identifying a state of said system as payload;
• and
• a third circuit configured to separate the transmission segment into a plurality of M-bit physical units, the third circuit configured to transmit the plurality of M-bit physical units and the at least one value identifying the state of said system over a physical transmission channel, wherein the segment header includes at least one field configured to identify a number of M-bit physical units to be transmitted.

A method of transmitting comprising:

• dividing data into a plurality of packets having a determined dimension;
• generating for each packet a transmission segment having a segment header and a payload, the payload including the respective packet;
• performing a flow control, routing, or quality of service control operation;
• generating at least one value identifying a state of said system as payload;
• separating said transmission segments into a plurality of physical units, wherein said physical units have a determined dimension;
• transmitting said physical units over a physical transmission channel;
• and
• transmitting the at least one value identifying the state of said system over the physical transmission channel;
• wherein said segment header includes at least one field, the at least one field configured to identify a number of physical units to be transmitted.