System and method for maintaining packet order in an ordered data stream

A source processor can divide each packet of a data stream into multiple segments prior to communication of the packet, allowing a packet to be transmitted in smaller chunks. The source processor can process the segments for two or more packets for a given data stream concurrently, and provide appropriate context information in each segments header to facilitate in order transmission and reception of the packets represented by the individual segments. Similarly, a destination processor can receive the packet segments packets for an ordered data stream from a source processor, and can assign different contexts, based upon the context information in each segments header. When a last segment is received for a particular packet, the context for the particular packet is closed, and a descriptor for the packet is sent to a queue. The order in which the last segments of the packets are transmitted maintains order amongst the packets.