A system and method for providing direct memory access is disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a direct memory access module is disclosed that includes a memory, a first interface coupled to a processor, and a second interface coupled to a peripheral module. A first instruction received from the first interface is stored in the memory. The first instruction includes a number of programmed input/output words to be provided to the peripheral module via the second interface. The direct memory access module also includes an instruction execution unit to process the first instruction.