METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR READING PREFETCHED DATA ACROSS A BRIDGE SYSTEM

Disclosed is a bridge system for processing read transactions over a bus in which in a preferred embodiment prefetched data stored in a buffer is not discarded if the address of the requested read does not match the beginning address of the prefetched data. Instead, the bridge system skips to the next address of the prefetched data stored in the buffer and compares that address to the address of the read request to determine if a match exists. If the requested read address does match the next prefetched data address, the prefetched data starting at that next address is read out and forwarded to the requesting agent. Alternatively, if there is not a match, the bridge skips again to the next address and continues checking for a match until either the prefetched data is exhausted or another predetermined limit has been reached. In this manner, many unnecessary data reads of data already prefetched in the buffer may be avoided.