Abstract: A system bus architecture for intermodular communications is disclosed. The system bus architecture comprises a backplane bus with associated memory and a plurality of control registers. A master system processor module is coupled to the backplane bus via a master bus controller. The master system processor module contains a central processing unit in selective communication the master bus controller. A plurality of slave modules are also coupled to the backplane bus via respective slave bus controllers. Each of the slave modules has a slave central processing unit in selective communication the slave bus controller. The master and slave bus controllers are in selective communication with the bus memory, the plurality of control registers, and the respective central processing units, to transmit and receive data through the backplane bus.