Resolving contention between data bursts

A method of resolving contention between data bursts, the method comprising:

• selecting a first one of the contending data bursts, wherein each of the contending data bursts is a response to a request;
• determining a length of a critical section of the first selected data burst;
• processing the critical section of the selected data burst;
• selecting a second one of the contending data bursts;
• determining a length of a critical section of the second selected data burst;
• and
• processing the critical section of the second selected data burst before processing a non-critical section of the selected data burst,
• wherein the step of determining the length of the critical section of each selected data burst comprises:
• determining the length of the critical section of the selected data burst based on properties of the selected data burst;
• and
• including in the data burst a tag indicating the length of the critical section of the data burst.

A method of processing a data request in an embedded system comprising a plurality of hosts and a plurality of memory resources, interconnected by a plurality of bus components, the method comprising:

• in a host which is one of the plurality of hosts, forming a data request identifying a memory resource from which the requested data is to be received, and including in the data request a tag indicating a length of a critical section of the data burst;
• in said identified memory resource, forming a burst transaction containing the requested data, and including in said burst transaction a second tag indicating a length of a critical section of the data burst;
• and
• at least one arbitration device associated with a respective one of said bus components, splitting the burst transaction based on a value of the second tag, and giving a higher priority to the critical section of the data burst than to a non-critical section of the data burst.