A maskless lithography system for exposing a target (121) according to pattern data (202). The system comprises an electron optical column (102) for generating a plurality of charged particle beamlets (132, 133) for exposing the target, the electron optical column including a beamlet blanker array (117) for modulating the beamlets, the beamlet blanker array including a plurality of receivers (150) for receiving beamlet data signals and a plurality of beamlet blanker elements (152) for modulating the beamlets in accordance with the data signals. The also comprises a data path (101) comprising a preprocessing system (140) for storing and processing the pattern data and a plurality of transmission channels (240) for transmitting the processed pattern data from the preprocessing system to the beamlet blanker elements. The data path further comprises a pattern streaming system (230) for receiving the pattern data and generating beamlet data signals, and first and second channel selectors (220, 320) connecting a subset of selected transmission channels among the transmission channels for transmitting the pattern data, wherein the first channel selector (220) is connected between the preprocessing system and the transmission channels and the second channel selector (320) is connected between the channels and the beamlet blanker elements.