the present invention relates to a high speed , multihop , local area network comprising a communications medium for supporting a plurality of channels therealong and a plurality of network interface units disposed along the medium in a predetermined sequence . each channel of the communications medium comprises one or more point - to - point communication links , and each niu is arranged to transmit to , or receive from , at least two other nius using point - to - point links from a separate subset of the multiple channels . several of the nius are also arranged to transmit to , or receive from , additional nius on the network using point - to - point links from a separate subset of the channels and , a non - linear connection pattern . each channel can be used to establish point - to - point links between several pairs of nius in nonoverlapping sections of the sequence of nius . communications between two nius is accomplished either directly , by a point - to - point link interconnecting the two nius , or by hopping the packet through a small number of intermediate nius .