Data path

A data path is a term for hardware (often a conductor, or group of them; although often some logic elements, such as gates or transceiver chips will be involved too) which carries data from one functional entity to another - e.g. from a register to an ALU. Although one might think of a bus as a data path (and, in some sense, that is correct), the term 'data path' is usually used for fixed, limited connections.