example turn off data block segmentation which reduces the number of arbitration cycles and the turnaround time spent for the same dma channel to be re initialized module 107 a also senses when multiple channels are being used again after a single channel mode is enabled when this occurs the single channel mode is disabled and standard segmentation techniques are used for a large data transfer fig1 c shows arbiter 107 being functionally coupled with module 107 a plural dma channels for example 129 and 135 are coupled with arbiter 107 each dma channel has a request pipeline for example 129 b and 135 b and a segmentation module for example 129 a and 135 a the segmentation module segments a dma transfer into segments or blocks to meet data transfer rules and or if a dma transfer is too large sequencer 109 and 112 send channel task commands 129 c and 135 c to dma channels 129 and 135 respectively the commands are used to generate a request to arbiter 107 segmentation modules 129 a and 135 b also operate based on certain rules for example when and how data blocks should be segmented these rules can be turned on or off by the firmware some of these.