The present invention relates to a computer system and more particularly to a computer system which allows option controller cards for various input/output (I/O) devices to be added on the motherboard at minimum cost.
This is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 08/484,446, filed Jun. 7, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,642, which is a divisional of Ser. No. 08/043,193, filed Apr. 5, 1993, now abandoned, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
An integrated circuit which has a packet router to which a plurality of functional modules are connected by respective ports is described. One of the ports acts as a socket port for an expansion socket. The expansion socket provides a plurality of additional expansion ports to which additional functional modules can optionally be connected. All the ports connected to the packet router, including the expansion socket port, preferably lie in a common address space for the integrated circuit.
