Chip-to-chip interconnect with a layered communication architecture

A system includes a first integrated circuit package including a first group of one or more artificial intelligence processing units and a first chip-to-chip interconnect communication unit and a second integrated circuit package including a second group of one or more artificial intelligence processing units and a second chip-to-chip interconnect communication unit. The system also includes an interconnect between the first integrated circuit package and the second integrated circuit package, wherein the first chip-to-chip interconnect communication unit and the second chip-to-chip interconnect communication unit manage ethernet-based communication via the interconnect using a layered communication architecture supporting a credit-based data flow control and a retransmission data flow control.