CA1161567A - Data transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

DATA TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

Disclosed is a serial data transmission system including a transmitter for transmitting serially arranged bits of binary information, a receiver for receiving the bits and an information carrying communications link extending between the transmitter and the receiver, means associated with the transmitter for arranging the binary information are arranged to be transmitted by the transmitter into data cycles each having a plurality of serially arranged data containing message frames, the message frames being further divided into message frames containing data of a first type and at least one message frame containing data of a second type. A ratio is established between data cycles transmitted with and data cycles transmitted without message frames containing data of the second type.

Description

DATA TRANSMISSI~N SYSTEM 1 J ~1567 This applica-tion is a division of Canadian Ser. ~o.
387,445, filed october 6, 1981, which is a division of Canadian Ser. No. 318,~74, filed Decem~er 29, 1978.

Background of the Invention The present invention relates to data trans-mission systems for transmitting data from a transmitter to a recelver over a communication link and, more specifically, to such systems for transmitting serially arranged binary information in message frame groups.
Many industrial control systems require the cooperative control of a plurality of related functions.
These functions may be located proximate to one another, or, as is more common, remotely located from one another.
In many cases, the overall control is achieved by means of a plurality of control units each of which is connected to a data unit. These data ~nits may have, for example, buffer, translation, and isolation circuits, and/or storage xegisters, which are adapted to store digital data or digital data which is representative of analog data. It is generally desira~le to update the various data units so that the entire control system operates in response to the latest available data. To accomplish this, it is necessary to provide a data transmission system between corresponding data units.
It is an o~erall requirement of any data trans-mission system for transmitting data from a first data unit to a second data unit, that the second da~a unit be updated in an efficient and reliable manner. To ~his end, a data transmission system must ~e able to address the first data unit; form the addressed data into a transmission for-mat; include data identifying and verifying information;
verify the transmission format at the second data unit; and address and update ~he corresponding data storing locations of the second data unit. ~

~ 36156~
Data transmission systems meeting these requirements generally include a transmitter connec-ted by a communication link to a receiver. The transmîtter is adapted to cyclically address a first data unit and form the data addressed into message groups which also include message identity information, error and validit~ information, and data address information.
The receiver is aaapted to recognize each message, evaluate the validîty of the message, and address the da-ta to a second data unit in respon~e to the reception of a valid message.
The present invention provides an improved trans-mission system which meets the above requirements and is adapted to reliably and efficiently transmit data between data units.
Summary of the Inven-tion Various aspects of the invention disclosed herein, and many of the attendant advantages of the invention disclosed will become more readily apparent upon a perusual of the description of the preferred embodiments herein. Nevertheless the inventive aspect to which the claims herein are particular-20- ly directed is a serial data transmission system including, a transmitter for transmitting serially arranged bits of binary informa-tion, a receiver for receiving -the bits, an information carrying communications link extending between the transmitter and the receiver. Means are associated with the transmitter for arranging the binary information transmitted by the transmitter into data cycles each having a plurality of serially arranged data containing message frames. The message frames are further divided into message frames containing data of a first type and at least one message frame containing data of a second type. Means associated with the transmitter establish a ratio between data cycles transmitted with and data cycles transmitted withou-t message frames containing data of the second type.

1 1~15~
The sarial data trans~ission system may further include, data cards serially arranged in a first group having data of the first type and in a second aroup having data of the second type. ~eans are provided for addressing the data cards in a success-i~e serial manner and means are provided for countlng the number of addressed data cards. Comparing means is connected to the countlng means to compare the data card count with a predetermined number ana termina-te the dat~
cycle and initiate another data cycle when the data card count equals the predetermined number. Means connected to the comparing means cause the comparator to terminate the data cycle and initiate another data cycle after the data cards of the firs-t type have been addressed in accordance with the ratio between data cycles transmitted with and data cycles transmitted without message frames containing data of the second type.
The terminating means may comprise a bi-state device which triggers between a first and a second state for each data cycle and in a further aspect the comparator also includes a first set of binarily weighted bit inp-uts and a second set of binarily weighted bit inputs, the most significant bit position of the first input set maintained at binary 1 and the remaining bit positions of the first input set connected to the address counting means to input`the addressed card count into the comparator. The most significant bit position of the second input set is connected to the output of the bi-state device such that the most significant bi-t of the secolld input set is binary one every other data cycle, the remaining bit positions of the second input set connected to a means for establishing the predetermined binary number for input to the comparator, an output of -the comparator is connected to the addressîng means and the counting means.

1 l 615~7 B.rie~ly, the sys.tem di.sclosed provides a data transmission system h.a~in~ a -transmitter connected to a re-ceiver by means of a communication link~ The txansmitter is adapted to operate through data cycles -to address a central data un;t containing both. dig;tal data and digital data repre-sentations- of analog values and transmit serially arranged data containing mes-sa~e frames to the receiver which is adapted to update the data unit in response to the reception of valid message frames. The data cycles may contain either message frames with digital data only, or message frames with both digital data and digital data representative of analog values.
The transmitter is provided with means to determine the ratio of data cycles with and without digital data representa-tive of analog values. Each of -the message frames includes a marker bit, a sync word, data words, header words, a checkword, and various start and parity bits. The message Erames start with a binary l/binary 0 combination, and each word in the message rame has a start bit and a concluding parity bit, with the start bit being complementary to the preceeding parity bit. The checkword in each message frame is the EXCLUSI~E-OR result of the corresponding bits of each of the other words in the message frame and represents vertical parity.
The receiver i5 adapted to detect and enable itself in response to the binary l/binary 0 combination, to detect and resynchronize its clock in response to the transi-tion between complementary start and parity bits, and test the validity of the transmitted message frame by generating start and parity bits, and a checkword for comparison with the start and parity bits, and the checkword of the received message frame.

1 :1 615~7 Brief Description of the Drawings The above description, as well as the objects, features, and advantages, of the present invention will be moxe fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred, but none-. theless illustrative, embodiment in accordance with thepresent invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawlngs wherein:
Figure 1 is a functional block diagram of a data transmission system in accordance with the present invention;
E'i~ure lA is a functional block diagrc~ of the transmitter shown in Figure 1;
Figure lB is a functional bloc~ diagram of the receiver shown in Figure l;
Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of a data transmission cycle comprising a plurality of n serially arranged message frames;
Figure 3 illustrates the first 40 bit positions of a preferred 80 bit message frame format;
Figure 3' illustrates the second 40 bit positions of the preferred 80 bit message frame format;
Figure 3A is a timing and control signal dlagram illustrating the control signals for the transmitter illustrated in Figures 1 and lA for the first 40 bit positions of Figure 3;
E'igure 3A' is a timing and control signa]. diagram illustrating the control signals for the transmitter illustrated in Figures 1 and lA for the second 40 bit posi-tions of Figure 3';

1 ~ 7 Figure 3B is a timing and control diagram, similar to that illustrated in Figure 3A, sho~ing the timing and con-trol signals for the receiver illustrated in Figures 1 and lB for the first 40 bit positions of Figure 3i Figure 3B' is a timing and control diagram, similar to that illustrated in Figure 8B, showing the timing and con-trol signals for the receiver illustrated in Figures 1 and lB for the second 40 bit positions of Figure 3'i Figure 4 is a functional block diagram of the timing and control signal section of the -transmitter illustrated in Figure l;
Figure 5 is a functional block diagram of the parity/start bit and sync word section of the transmitter illustrated in Figure l;
Figure 6 is a functional block diagram of the data card addressing section of the transmitter illustrated in Figure 1, appearing with Figure 4i Figure 7 is a column of binary numbers :. illustrating the formation of a checkword representing vertical or columnar parityi Figure 8 is a functional block diagram of the timing and control slgnal section of the receiver .illustrated in Figure l;
Figure 9 is a functional block diagram of the : parity/ctart and sync and checkword section of the receiver illustrated in Figure l; and Figure 10 is a functional bloc}c diagram of the data storage and control section of the receiver illustrated in Figure 1.

1 1 ~1567 Description of the Preferred Embodiment -A pulse code modulation data transmission system in accordance with the present invention is illus-trated in functional block form in Figure 1 and is generally referred to herein by the reference character 10. The system 10 includes a transmitter 100 for transmitting digital data over a communications link 12 to a receiver 200. The transmitter 100 is connected to and is adapted to address a data unit 14 which supplies the data for transmission.
The data, after it is received and verified by the receiver 200, is supplied to a data unit 16. In the preferred embodiment, the data unit 14 is part of a controller of the type utilized in industrial installations, as, for example, a power installation, and includes a plurality of analog and digital data carrying cards (not shown). As will be explained in detail below, the trans-mitter 100 operates through a data cycle to address various digital and analog data cards in the data uni-t 14 in a sequential manner to provide eight bit data groups, defined herein as bytes, for inclusion into message frames having a marker pulse, a sync word, data word address information, a checkword, and various error, parity, and start bits. Each message frame of the data cycle is trans-mitted in a serial fashion over the communications link 12, which may take the form of a twisted wire pair, to the ~ receiver 200, where the sync word is verified, and the message validity evaluated by means of the various error, parity and start bits, and the checkword. If the message frame is deemed valid by the receiver 200, the data bytes 1~6~

are addressed to the data unit 16 in a se~uential manner to update the data cards in the data unit 16.
If the message frame is deemed invalid, the message data is not used and the receiver 200 is reset to receive the next successive message frame transmitted during the data cycle.
The system 10 shown in Figure 1 is a simplex system adapted for one-way transmission. As is readily apparent, a duplex system may be arranged by providing an additional transmitter, receiver, and communications link of the type illustrated in the figures and described below for transmitting data in a direction opposite to that shown in Figure 1.
Data Cycle and Message Frame Format - As shown in Figure 2, the transmitter 100 operates to transmit a data cycle which comprises n serially arranged message ~rames. During each data cycle, the data in the data unit 1~ is sequentially addressed in eight bit groups or bytes with the data inserted into the n serially transmitted message frames.
The data in the data unit lg is contained on either digital aata cards or analog data cards. Each digital data card includes a plurality of digital data points thereon with each data point connected to an isolation translation circuit to provide a binary indication of a condition at the transmitter 100 location. For example, an isolation translation circuit may receive its input-from a switch and provide a binary indication at its digital data point as to the state of the switch. When a digital data card and a digital data point is addressed by the transmitter 100, the bit 1~61~7 of binary information stored in the addressed data device is accessed for inclusion in a aigital message frame. Each analog data card includes at least one analog/digital con-verter connected to the parallel inputs of a shift register with the serial output of the shift register connected to an analog data point. An analog/digital converter converts an analog value, such as voltage, into a binary number for storage into the analog card shift register. When the analog data card and the analog data point on the card are addressed by the transmitter lOO, the binary information in the analog card shift register is shifted out for inclusion into an analog message frame.
In the preferred embodiment, the data unit 14 may contain up to 128 data cards, the majority of which are digital data cards having eight digital data points and the remainder o~ which are analog data cards having eight analog data points. The trans~itter lOO is adapted to address the digital data cards in groups of four to provide four digital data bytes of eight bits each for inclusion in a digital message frame, and to address the analog data points in groups of two to provide two groups of 16 analog data bits for inclusion in an analog message frame. For example, if the data unit 14 contains 124 digital data cards having eight digital data points each, and one analog data card having eight analog data points, the data cycle will comprise 31 digital message frames each containing four 1 1 6 ~ 567 bytes or 32 bits of digital data for each group of four digital data cards, and four analog message frames each containing two groups of 16 bits of digital data (representative of analog values) for each group of two analog data points.
The message frame format for both digital and analog message frames is shown in Figures 3 and 3' and com-prises a serially arranyed 80 bit message having bit intervals or positiolls 0-79. The message frame includes a marker bit, a nine bit sync word; four 10 bit data words; two 10 bit header words; and a 10 bit checkword. The digital data words are represented by the reference characters DW 1, DW 2, DW 3, and DW 4; while the analog data words are represented by the reference characters AD~ lA and lB, and ADW 2A and 2B.
The marker bit occupies bit position ~ and is always a binary one. The sync word occupies bit posi.tions 1-9 with the bit position 1 assigned a binary 0 to provide a hinary 1 to binary 0 transition between the marker bit and the first ~it position of the sync word. Binary 1 is represented by one voltage signal level and binary zero is represented by a different voltage signal level. The binary l/binary 0 signal level transition, as explained below, provides a means to condition the receiver 200 to receive and detect the sync word. The sync word is arbitrarily selected at the transmitter 100 and is provided to enable the receiver 20a to detect that it is receiving the first byte of a new message frame. The sync word concludes with a parity - bit in bit position 9 which provides odd horizontal or row parity. Each of the data words ~ ~ ~1 567 begins, repectively, with a start bit in the bit positions 10, 20, 30 and 40, and concludes, respectively, with a parity blt to provide odd horizontal parity in the bit positions 19, 29, 39 and 49. The start bit, in all cases, is the complement of the preceding parity bit. Each data word includes an eight bit data byte between the start and the parity bits. The first header word starts and concludes, respectively, with a start bit in the bit position 50 and a parity bit in the bit position 59, and includes binary information in the bit positions 51-S8 representing the initial data card adaressing. The second header word starts and concludes, respectively, with a start bit in the bit position 60 and a parity bit in the bit position 69. The second header word includes binary information in the bit positions 61-63 representing an initial data point address, and binary information in the bit positions 65-68 representing the output of an error detection circuit. The bit position 64, as described below, is not utilized for information purposes and is arbitrarily assigned a binary 0 value. The message frame ends with the checkword which starts and concludes, respectively, with a start bit in a bit position 70 and a parity bit in the bit position 79, and includes binary information in the bit positions 71-78 which represents even vertical or columnar parity and is unique to th~
data words and the header words.

1 1 6 ~

Transmitter and Receiver Or~aniza-tion The overall functional organization of the - transmitter 100 and the receiver 200 is shown, xespectively, in Figures lA and lB.
As shown in-Figure lA, the transmitter 100 includes a data selector 18 which is adapted to selectively address one of five inputs, namely, a 'header', a 'data', a 'parity', a 'marker/start', or a 'sync/check' input and route the selected input to a 'data out' line. A parity/
start generator 20, which has its outputs 'parity' and 'marker/start' connected to the data selector 18, is pro-vided to generate the marker bit and the various parity and start bits of each message frame. A sync/checkword register 22, which has its output 'sync/check' connected to the data selector 18, is provided to supply the sync word and generate a checkword for each message frame.
A header word register 24, which has its output 'header' connected to the data selector 18, is provided to supply the first and second header words of each message frame.
A data addressing unit 26, which is connected to and supplies addressing information to the header word register 24, is adapted to address the various data cards in the data unit 14 and gate the addressed data to the 'data' input of the data selector 18. An error detector 28, which is connected to the header word register ~2 11~156~l 24, detects anomalous conditions which may occur duriny the transmlssion of the data and inserts appropriate error indicating bits in the second header word. A timing and control unit 30 operates to provide the various timin~
and control signals to the transmitter devices described above.
The transmitter 100 functions in the following manner to generate a message frame. At the beginning of each message frame, the data selector 18 selects its 'marker/start' input, and concurrently therewith, the parity/start generator 20 provides a marker bit which is routed by the data selector 18 to the 'data out' line.
The data selector 18 then selects its 'sync/check' input at which time the sync/checkword register 22 is enabled to provide a sync word which is routed to the 'data out' line by the data selector 18. During the transmission of the sync word, the parity/start generator 20 functions to generate a parity bit for the sync word and a complementary start b1t for the first data word. At the end of the sync word transmission, the data selector 18 is enabled to select, respectively, its 'parity' and then its 'marker/
start' input to route the appropriate parity and start bits to the 'data out' line. The data selector 18 then selects the 'data' input while the addressing section 26 is enabled to provide data address information to the header word register 24 and to address a data card in the data unit 14 to provide the first eight bit data byte to the 'data out' line. As in the case of the sync word, the parity/start generator 20 functions during the transmission of the first data byte to generate an appropriate parity bit and a complementary start bit. At the end of the first data byte, the data selector la is enahled to select, respectively, its 'parity' and its 'marker/start' inputs to provide the appropriate parity and start bits to the 'data out' line.
In a manner identical to that described above, the remaining three data bytes and their respective parity and start bits are transmitted. The data selector 18 is then enabled to `10 select its 'header' input and the header word register 24 enabled to transmit the first and second header words with the appropriate parity and start bits. After the header words are transmitted, the data selector 18 is enabled to select its 'sync/chec~' input and the sync/checkword register 22 is enabled to transmit a chec~word which was generated during the transmission of the data bytes and the header word information. Finally, the data selector 18 is enabled to select its 'parity' input to transmit the check-word parity bit.
The receiver 200 includes a header word register ; 32, a sync and check~ord verifier 34, and a parity/start verifier 36 which have their respective inputs connected to an 'incoming data' line. The sync and checkword verifier 34 has its output 'sync/check', and the parity/start verifier 36 has its outputs 'parity' and 'start' connected to the inputs of a data selector 38. The header word register 32 is connected to a data addressing unit 40 which provides addressing to the data unit 16 and to an error detector 42 which is responsive to any error bits in the incoming data. The sync and checkword verifier 34 is adapted to provide and generate, respectively, a sync word for comparison with the incoming sync word, and a checkword for comparison with the incoming checkword.
In a similar manner, the parity/start verifier 36 is adapted to generate parity and start bits for comparison with the various incoming parity and start bits. If a mismatch is detected between the incoming parity, and start bits, or the sync and checkword, a fault signal is routed by the data selector 38 to a receiver control circuit 44 which provides overall receiver control. The receiver 200 also includes a timing and control unit 46 which operates to provide the various timing and control signals to the receiver 200 devices described above.
The receiver 200 functions in the following manner to receive and evaluate the incoming message frame.
The receiver 200, which, prior to the reception of the message, is in a PRESET state, is switched to an ENABLE
state by the incoming binary 1 marker bit. The incoming sync word is introduced into the sync/checkword verifier 34 where it is compared wi-th a previously stored sync word.
During this comparision, the data selector 38 is enabled to select its 'sync/check' input for routing to the receiver control circuit 44. Ir a mismatch is detected }~etween the incoming sync word and the internally stored sync word, a fault signal is issued by the sync/checkword verifier 36 1 3 61 5~7 to the receiver control circuitry 44 to terminate the reception of the message and return the receiver 200 to its PRESET state. If the incoming sync word is in proper form, the parity/start verifier 36 then functions to compare the incoming parity and start bits with internally generated parity and start bits. During the parity and start bit co~parison, the data selector 38 is enabled to select, respectively, its 'parity' and then its 'start' input for routing to the receiver control circuitry 44. I~
a mismatch is detected between the incoming parity bit and the internally generated parity bit, or the incoming start bit and the internally generated start bit, a fault signal is issued by the parity/start verifier 36 to cause the receiver control circuit 44 to terminate the reception of the message and return the receiver ~00 to its PRESET state. After the sync word, and the parity and start bits are received, the incoming data bytes and the header word information is read into the header word register 32 during which time the parity/start ~erifier 36 functions to generate parity and start bits for comparison, respectively, with the incoming parity and start bits at the beginning and end of each data word and each header word. If a mismatch should occur between the incoming parity or start bits and the internally generated parity and start bits r a ault signal will ~e ~ssued to the receiver control circuit 44 to terminate the reception of the message and return the receiver to its PRESET condition. After the incoming data bytes and the card address information in the first and second header words are read into the header word register 32, the error detector ~2 determines if any error bits were transmitted with the ~t5f~7 incoming message frame. If any error bits were present, the incoming data bytes are not utilized to update the data unit 16. After the data bytes and the header information is read into the header word register 32, the incoming checkword is compared with a chec~word internally generated by the sync/checkword verifier 34. If there is a mismatch, the data selector 38 routes a fault signal to the receiver control circuit 44 to terminate the reception of the message and return the receiver 200 to the PRESET
state. If no mismatch was detected, the data bytes are read out of the header reg.ister 32 to update the data .
unit 16.
The Transmitter Circuitry The transmitter 100 circuitry is shown i.n Figures 4, 5, and 6, and includes a timing and control signal section (Figure 4); a message frame assembly section (Figure 5~i and a data card addressing section (Figure 6).
As shown in Figure 4, the timing and control signal section includes a clock 102 which provides a train of clock pulses at an arbitrarily selected pulse repetition rate, such as, for example, 9.85 MPPS. The clock pulses are inputed to a frequency di~ider 104 which in turn increments an intra-bit counter 106 serially cascaded with a frame interval counter 108. The outputs of the counters 106 and 108 are connected, respectively, to a decoder 110 and a decoder 112. The counter 106 is adapted to recycle each bit interval with ~he decoder 110 providing four intra-bit outputs lT, 2T, 3T and ~T for each binary interval. Each intra-bit output occupies one-quarter of a bit interval. The frame counter 108 is adapted to recycle each~80 bit frame interval with the decoder 112 providing the timing and control signals AT, ~T, CT, DT, ET, FT, HT, and KT. The transmitter 100 timing and control signals issued by the decoder 112 are illustrated in Figures 3~ and 3A' in vertical registration, respectively, with the bit positions oE the message frame of Figures 3 and 3'. While the decoder 112 may take the form of a conventional decoding logic array, it is preferably in the form of a micro-programmed read only memory (ROM). The various outputs of the decoders 110 and 112 may he inputed to various inverters, NAND and AND gates (not shown) in a conventional manner to provide various NOT, sum of the products, and product of the sums tirning and control signal combinations. The exact combination of timing and control signals required is dictated by the control requirements of the devices selected to imple-ment the present invention. As used herein, a superposed bar symbol, appearing above an input, output, or control signal symbol, indicates that the i~put, output, or control is the binary complement of the input, output, or control without superposed bar. For example, a Q output is the binary complement of the Q output. The timing and control signals l ~ 6156~

of Figures 3A and 3A' are utilized by the transmitter 100 circuitry of Figures 5 and 6 to selectively enable or in-hibit various devices to generate and assemble the various words of the message frame.
As shown in Figure 5, the transmitter 100 message frame assembly section is divided into a parity/start bit section, a sync and checkword section, a header word section, and a data selector section.
The parity/start bit, and the sync and checkword section generally occupy the lower portion of Figure 5 and includes a parity/start flip-flop 114, a data selector 116, a sync and checkword shift register 118, a sync word sw'itch register 120, and an EXCLUSIVE OR comparator circuit 122.
The parity/start flip-~lop 114 functions to provide the message frame marker bit at binary position 0, and'the parity and start bits at the end and beginning of each word in the message frame. The sync word switch register 120 is provided to store a preselected sync word for loading into the sync and checkword shift register 113. The EXCLUSIVE
OR circuit 122 in cooperation with the sync and c~eckword shift register 118, generates a unique checkword as the data bytes and headerword information bits are transmitted.
The data selector 116 has a 'data out' output and five data inputs designated herein as the 'sync/check' input, the 'marker/start' input, the 'parity' input, the 'data' input, and the 'header' input. The data selector 116 is adapted to select one of these five inputs and route the selected input to the 'data out' line in response to the control signals AT, BT, and CT.

1 1 6~5~

The parity/start flip-flop 114 is a conventional J-K flip-flop which is reset by applying a combination of the KT and lT control signals to the ~ input, and which is set b~ applying a combination of the HT and lT control signals to the S input. The J and K inputs of the flip-flop 114 are connected to the 'data out' line such that the flip-flop 114 may be enabled for toggling between its set and reset states by applying a combination of the DT and 3T
control signals to the C input. The Q and Q output of the parity/start flip-flop 114 are connected, respectively, to the 'parity' and the 'marker/start' inputs of the data selector 116.
The sync ~ord switch register 120 includes a plurality of SPST switches 124 connected to the parallel inputs of,the sync and checkword shift register 118. The switches 124 provide a binary 1 input to the shift register 118 when they are open and a binary 0 input when they are closed. In the preerred embodiment, the first bit of the s~nc word, that is, bit position 1 i5 always a binary 0.
To this end, the first bit position of the sync and checkword shift register 118 is connected to ground. In Figure 5, the sync word switch register 120, when read from the right to the left, is shown storing the sync word 01010101. The sync word is loaded into the sync and checkword shift register 118 from the sync word switch register 120 by a combination of the KT
and lT control signals applied to the load input oE the sync and checkword shift register 118 and is shifted out of the - shift register 118 by the intra-bit control signal 4T applied to the clock input when the DT control signal is applied to the clock enable input. The output of the sync and checkword shift register 118 is connected to the 'sync/check' input of the data selector 116.

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1 l ~15~7 The EXCLUSIV~ OR circuit 122 has its output con-nected to the serial input of the sync and checkword shift register 118. One of EXCLUSrVE OR circuit 122 inputs is connected to the output of the sync and checkword shiEt register 118 and the other of its inputs connected to the 'data out' line and to the J-K inputs of the parity/start flip-flop 114.
The header word section, which generally occupies the upper portion of Figuxe 5, includes a data card address shift register 126, a data point and error bit shift register 128, an intermediate data point register 130, a quad error bit latch 132, and an error bit decoder 134. An error detection circuit, consisting of an EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 136 and a NAND gate 138, is connected to the input of the error bit decoder 134.
The shift registers 126 and 128 are serially cascaded and both contain eight bit positions. The data card address.shif~.register 126 has its parallel inputs, designated C0 through C6, connected to a data card address counter which is described below. The data card address information is loaded into the shift register 126 by a combination of the KT and lT control signals applied to the shift register 126 load input and is enabled for shifting by the ET and 4T control signals applied, respectively, to the clock enable and clock inputs. The serial output of the shift register 126, 'header', is connected tc the data selector 116.

1 1 & ~ 56 7 The intermediate data point storage registers 130 is a four bit register which, in response to a combination of the KT and lT control signals, is adapted to load a data point address P0, Pl, and P2 from a data point counter which is described below.
The error bit storage latch 132 is a four bit register, formed from four RS type latches RSl-RS4, which has its parallel outputs connected to the last four bit positions of the shift register 128 and its parallel inputs connected to the error bit decoder 13~. The decoder 134 is adapted, in response to the control signals C0 and C1, to direct its input 'error' to one of the four RS latches of the error bit storage latch 132.
The error bit generator consist of the EXCLUSIVE OR circui-t 136 having DATA and DATA inputs and the NAND gate 138 connected to th~ output of the EXCL~SIVE.OR
circuit 136 and a POWER signal. As long as the voltage levels which define the binary l's and 0's are such that the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 136 can distinguish between the two, the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 136 output is a binary 1.
Should the binary 1 and binary 0 voltage levels degrade such that the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 136 cannot distinguish between the two, the EXCL~SIVE OR circuit 136 output will be a binary 0 thereby causing a binary 1 to appear at the output of the NAND gate 138. In addition, should the power level drop, a binary 1 will also appear at the output at the NAND gate 138. Any binary 1 error bits that are generated during the transmission of the data bytes are -~ ~ 61 567 are inserted into bit positions 65-68 of the shift register 128 through the error bit storage latches 132 by the decoder 134.
As shown in Figure 6, the data card address section of the transmitter 100 includes a point address counter 140 serially cascaded with an eight bit data card address counter 142. The parallel outputs P0, Pl, and P2 of the point address counter 140 are connected to the parallel lnputs of the point selection logic 144 and to the parallel inputs of the data point intermediate register 130 (Figure S) described above.
The parallel outputs C0-C6 of the card address counter 142 are connected to the parallel inputs of the card selection logic 146 and to the parallel inputs of the card address shift register 126 (Figure 5~. The counters - 140 and 142 are adapted, through the logic selection circuits 144 and 146, to sequentially address the digital and analog data cards to gate the data thereon to the 'data' input of the data selector 116.
The data point address counter 140 is a three bit, modulo eight counter which is incremented by a combination of the FT and 4T timing and control signals applied through gate 162 to the clock input of the counter 140. The counter 140, upon recycling, is adapted to increment the card address counter 142 by one.

.

-1 ~ 6 ~ ~6 J' The data card address counter 142 modulo is estab-lished by a magnitude comparator 148 and a maximum card switch register 150. The comparator 14a has an A<C output connected through an inverter Il to the clear inputs o the counters 140 and 142, one set of its parallel inputs connected to the parallel outputs C0-C6 of the card address counter 142, and the other set of its parallel inputs A0-A6 connec-ted to the SPST
switches 154 contained in the switeh register 150. For reasons of clarity, only one switch 154 is shown. The C7 input of the eomparator 148 is eonneeted to binary HIGH and the A7 input is eonneeted to the Q output of a toggling flip-flop 160 through a NAND gate G2. As in the ease of the switeh register 124, the switehes 154 provide a binary 1 imput when open and a binary zero input when they are elosed. The pre-selected binary number stored in the switch register 150, the eomparator 148, and the flip-flop 160 eooperate as described below to cause the counters 140 and 142 to elear to zero at a predetermined eard address during every other data cyele.
- An analog data bit eounter 156 is provided to inerement the point address eounter 140 when the transmitter 100 is addressing an analog data eard. The analog data bit eounter 156 is a modulo 16 eounter which has its serial output eonnected to the serial input of the point address counter 140. The eounter 156 is enabled by an ANACARD
control signal, the source of whieh is deseribed below, and incremented by a combination of the FT and 4T eontrol signals applied to the cloek input.

5 6 ~

The strobe generator 15B is adapted to generate shift pulses, in response to a combination o~ the FT and 4T control signals, to shift the analog data bits out of the shift register on the analog data card.
Transmltter Data Cycle and Message ~rame Operation During the binary zero time interval, the parity/
start flip-flop 114 is reset by a combination of the KT
and lT control signals and, concurrently therewith, the data selector 116 is enabled by the control signals AT, BT, and CT, to select its 'marker/start' input for routing to the 'data out' line. Since the parity/start flip-flop 114 is reset, the binary 1 at the Q output will appear on the 'data out' line. In this manner, the binary 1 marker bit is always provided in the binary zero bit position of each message frame. The XT and lT control signal combination, in addition to resetting the parity/start flip-flop 114, is applied to the load lnput of the sync and checkword shift register 118 to load the preselected sync word from the sync word switch register 120 into the sync and check-word shift register 118.
Commencing with the second bit interval, bitposition 1, and ending with bit position 8, the DT and 4T control signals are applied, respectively, to the clock enable and clock input of the sync and checkword shift register 118 thereby enabling the shift register 118 to shift the sync word out while the data selector 116 is con~
currently enabled by the AT, BT~ and CT control signals 3 1 6~

to select its 'sync/check' input and thereby route the sync word to the 'data out' line. Since the first bit position of the sync word switch register 120 is wired to ground, the first bit shifted out of the sync and checkword shift regis-ter 118 and, thus, the first bit of the sync word will be a binary 0. The binary 1 marker bit and the initial binary 0 in the sync word provide a binary 1 to binary 0 trailing edge transition between bit positions zero and one which is u-tilized, as described below, to enable and synchronize the receiver 200 to receive the message frame. As the sync word is shi~ted out during binary positions 1-8, the EXCLUSIVE OR
circuit 122 compares the output of the sync and checkword shift register 118 with the 'data out' line. Since the two inputs will be identical, the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 122 will apply a binary 0 to the serial input of sync and checkword shift register 118. As the sync word is shifted out by the intra-bit control signal 4T, the sync and checkword shift register 118 will fill with binary zeros generated by the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 122.
Concurrent with the shifting of the sync word, the parity/start flip-flop 114, which was set by a combination of the ~T and lT control signals in bit interval 1, is enabled for toggling by a combination of the DT and 3T control signals applied to the C input. Whenever a binary 1 is shifted out of the sync and checkword shift register 118, the parity/
start flip-flop 114 will toggle between its two states.

~16~56~

If there are an even number of binary ones in the sync word, the flip-flop 114, at the end of bit position 8, will be set, and, if there are an odd number of binary ones in the sync word at the end of the bit position 8, the flip-flop 114 will be reset. At binary position 3, the data selector 116 is enabled by the control signals AT, BT and CT to select its 'parity' input and thereby route the Q
output of the parity/start flip-flop 114 to the 'data out' line. If the total number of binary ones in the sync word is even, an additional binary 1 from the Q output of the set parity/start flip-flop 114 will be inserted in binary position 9 to provide odd horizontal parity. If the total number of binary ones in the sync word is odd, a binary 0 from the Q output of the reset parity/start flip-flop 114 will be routed by the data selector 116 to the 'data out' line to provide odd horizontal parity. In the next bit interval, bit position 10, the data selector 116 is enabled by the control signals AT, BT and CT to select its 'marker/start' input and thereby route tle Q output of the parity/start flip-flop 114 to the 'data out' line. If the flip-flop 114 was set by an even number of binary ones in the sync word, the start bit in bit position 10 will be a binary 0, and if the parity/start flip-flop 114 was reset by an odd number of binary ones in the sync word, the start bit in binary position 10 will be a binary 1. As is apparent, the start bit is always the complement of the preceeding parity bit.

5 ~ ~

After the max~er bit, the sync word, the sync word parity bit, and the start bit of the first data word ~ 1 have been transmitted, the first eight bit data byte in bit positions 11-18 will ~e transmitted by the data card address section shown in Figure 6.
The data cards and their respective data points are addressed in a successive serial manner by means of the data card selection loyic 1~6 and data point selection logic 1~4 operating in response to the binary address numbers contained in, respectively, the data card address counter 142, and the data point address counter 140.
The card address and the point address contained in the counters 142 and 140 for the transmission of the first message frame of the first data cycle are, respectively, 0000000 and 000. These initial addresses are obtained by -clearing the counters 140 and 142 to zero. This is done by applying a RESET control signal to the clear inputs of the counters 140 and 142. The RESET control signal is generated by circuit means (not shown) at transmitter 100 turn on.
The initial data card and data point address is loaded, respectively, into the data card shift regis-ter 126 and the data point intermediate register 130 (Figure 5) prior to the transmission of the first data byte during the binary interval zero by a combination o the KT and lT control signals applied to the load inputs of the registers 126 and 130. The initial data card and data point address information is held in the registers 126 and 130 for insertion, - respectively, into the first and second header words after the transmission of the data words.

~ ~ 615~

The first data byte is transmitted during bit intervals 11 to 18, during which time the data selector 116 is caused to select, in response to its ~T, BT, and CT control signals, its 'data' input for routing to the 'data outl line, and the point address counter 140 is incremented by ones in response to a combination of the FT and 4T control signals. As the point address counter 140 increments upward from its initial address, the selection logic 144 sequentially gates the eight data points on the addressed data card to the 'data out' line to transmit the first data byte. Thus, for bit positions 11-18, the point addxess counter 140 will increment from the initial point address of 000 through to 111 to gate the eight data points on the addressed data card to the 'data out' line. The point address counter then recycles to 000 to thereby increment the serially cascaded card address counter 142 by one to address the next successive data card. For the first message frame o~
the first data cycle, the card address counter will be incremented from 0000000 to 0000001 after the transmission of the first data byte in bit positions 11-18.
The parity/start flip-flop 114, concurrent with the transmission of the first data byte, functions to generate the appropriate parity and start bits. During bit intervals 19 and 20, the data selector 116 is ena~led to select its 'parity' input and then its 'start' input to pro~ide a parity bit for the first data word DW 1 and a complementary start bit for the second data word DW 2.

1 ~ B15~7 The second data byt~ is ~-ransmitted during bit intervals 21-28 during which time the data selector 116 is caused to select, in response to its AT, 3T and CT control signals, its 'data' input for routing to the Idata out' line, and the point address counter 140 is incremented by ones in response to a combination of the FT and 4T control signals.
As the point address counter 140 increments upward from its initial address, the selection logic 144 (Figure 6) sequen-tially gates the eight data points on the next data card to the 'data out' line to transmit the second data byte. Thus, for bit positions 21-28, the point address counter 140 will increment from the point address of 000 through to 111 to gate the eight data points on the addressed data card to the 'data out' line. The point aadress counter then recycles to 000 to thereby increment the serially cascaded card address counter 142 by one to address the next successive data card. For the second data byte of the first message frame of the first data cycle, the card address counter will be incremented from 0000001 to 0000010 after the trans-mission of the second data byte in bit positions 21-28.
The parity/start flip-flop 114, concurrent with the transmission of the second data byte, functions to generate the appropriate parity and start bits. During bit intervals 29 and 30, the data selector 116 is enabled to select its 'parity' input and then its 'start' input to provide a parity bit for the second data word DW 2 and a complementary start bit for the third data word DW 3.

.

~ 1 6~567 Commencing with bit interval 31 and ending with bit interval 49, the transmitter 100 functions to transmit the third and fourth data words, DW 3 and DW 4, in a manner identical to that described ~or transmission of the first and second data words, DW 1 and DW 2. The data point selection logic 144 and the data card selection logic 146, in response to the incrementing of the point address counter 140 and the card address counter 142, successively gate the data points on the next two successive data cards to the 'data out' line to form the third and fourth data bytes. After the trans-mission of the third data byte in bit positions 31-39, the card address counter 142 will be incremented by the point address counter 140 from 0000010 to 0000011, and after the transmission of the fourth data byte in the bit positions 41-49, the card address counter will be incremented by t~e point address counter 140 to 0000100. This last card address then forms the basis for the first data byte of the next successive message frame transmitted.
The parity/start flip-flop 114, concurrent with the transmission of the second and third data bytes, functions to generate the appropriate parity bi-ts for bit positions 49 and 59 and the complementary start bits for bit positions 50 and 60. The data selector 116 is enabled by its ~T, BT and CT
control signals to select its 'parity' input in bit positions ~9 and 59 and its 'marker/start' input in positions 50 and 60 to provide the parity and start bits for these bit positions.

,, 1 ~1 61567 The error bit generator shown in Figure 5 and consisting of the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 136 and the NAND
gate 138 functions during the transmission of the four data bytes to generate an error output at the gate 138 in response to degradations of the POWER, DATA and DATA ~oltage levels. The data word error bit decoder 134 has its selection inputs, C0 and Cl, connected, respectively, to the C0 and Cl outputs of thè data card address counter 142 (Figure 6).
The decoder 134, as enabled by the control signals C0 and Cl, will route an error bit output from the NAND gate 138 to one of the four error bits storage latches RSl-RS4. During the transmission of the first data byte, the output of the NAND
gate 138 will be routed by the error bit decoder 134 to the S
input of the first latch RSl. Should an error bit occur, the latch RSl Will be set. In an analogous manner, the decoder 134 will route error bits occurring during the transmission of the second, third and fourth data bytes to, respectively, the second latch RS2, the third latch RS3, and the fourth latch RS4.
After the four data words have been transmitted, a combination of the FT and 3T control signals.applied to the load input of the shift register 128 simultaneously loads, respectively, the point address contents and error bit contents of the point address intermediate register 130 and the error ~ 3 ~567 bit register 132 into the shift register 128. Thus, at bit position S0, the card address shift register 126 con-tains the initial card address for the first data byte which was loaded in bit interval 0 by a combination o~ the KT and lT control signals; and the serially cascaded shift register 128 contains the initial point address for the first data byte and the error bit information for the four data bytes.
The contents of these two shift registers, 126 and 128, constitute the information contents of the first and second header words.
Commencing with bit position 51 and ending at bit position 58, the shift xegisters 126 and 128, as enabled and shifted, respectively, by the ET and 4T control signals, shift the initial card address information out of the shift register 126 to transmit the first header word. Concurrently therewith, the data selector is enabled by its AT, BT, and CT control signals to select its 'header' input for routing to the 'data out' line.
As the card address information for the first header word is shifted out, the parity/start flip-flop 114 functions to generate the appropriate parity and comple-mentary start bits. During bit intervals 59 and 60, the data selector 116 is enabled to select its 'parity' and then its 'start' input to pro~ide a parity bit for the first header word and a complementary start bit for the second header word.

l ~ 615~7 Commencing with bit position 61 and ending at bit position 68j the cascaded shift registers 126 and 128, as en-abled and shlfted, respectively, by the ET and 4T control signals, shift the initial point address information and error bit information out of the shift registers 126 and 128 to transmit the second header word. Concurrently therewith, the data selector is ena~led by its AT, BT, and CT control signals to select its 'header' input for routing to the 'data out' line.
As the card address information for the second header word is shifted out, the parity/start flip-flop 114 functions to generate the appropriate parity and comple-mentary start bits. During bit intervals 69 and 70, the data selector 116 is enabled to select its 'parity' and then its 'start' inpu-t to provide a parity bit for the second header word and a complementary start bit for the checkword.
~ fter the transmission of the second header word and the start bit of the checkword, the data selector 116 is ena~led by its timing and control slgnals AT, 3~, and CT to select its :SYNC/CHECK' input to begin transmission of the checkword.
Beginning with the transmission of the first data byte, the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 122 (Figure 5~ compared the out-put of the 'data out' line with the output of the sync and checkword shift register 118 and entered its EXCLUSIVE OR
result into the shift register 118 serial input. Since the sync and checkword shift register 118 contained all zeros after the transmission of the sync word, the first data byte was entered into the shift register 118 by the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 11 ~ 6~67 122. The EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 122 then, in a successive manner, compared the second data byte with the first data byte; compared the third data byte with the EXCLUSIVE OR
result of the second and first data bytes; compared the fourth data byte with the EXCLUSIVE OR result oX the third, second, and first data bytes; compared the first header word information with the EXCLUSIVE OR result of the fourth, third, second, and first data bytes; and, finally, compared the second header word inormation with the EXCLUSIVE OR
result o~ the previous words in the message frame. This final EXC~USI~E OR result constitutes the message frame check-word representing columnar or vertical parity between the corresponding bit positions of the previous words in the message frame. An example of the checkword formation is illustrated in Figure 7 which shows four exemplary data words DW l, DW 2, DW 3, and DW 4, two exemplary header words, the intermediate results, and the final checkword.
- Commencing with bit position 71 and ending with bit position 78, the sync and checkword shift register 118 is enabled and shifted, respectively, by the DT control signal applied to the enable input and the 4T control signal applied to the clock input to shift the checkword to the 'data out line through the appropriately enabled data selector 116.
During the transmission of the checkword, the parity/start flip-flop 114 functions to generate a parity bit and a complementary start bit as described above. During the bit interval 79, the data selector 116 is enabled by its timing and control signals, AT, BT, and CT, to select its 'parity' input to insert the checkword parity bit in the bit position 79 and thereby conclude the transmission of the first message frame.

-~ ~ 6156~

The frame interval counter 108 (Figure 43, upon completion of the transmission of the first message frame, immediately recycles to begin the generation o another set of timing and control signals for the next message frame. The second and succeeding message frames are assembled and trans-mit-ted in the same manner as for the first message frame, excep~
that they use and contain different initial data card addresses The first message frame, as described above, had its initial data card address of 0000000 provided by the RESET control signal at transmitter 100 turn on. ~fter the transmission of the four data bytes accessed from four successive data cards, the data card address was incremented by ones to 0000100. The second message frame uses this initial data card address for insertion in its first header word and as a basis ~or successively addressing the next four data cards in the data unit 14 and thereby increment the data card address to 0001000. Thus, the initial data card address is incremented by the binary equivalent of four for each successive message frame transmitted.
20- After the card address counter 142 increments through and addresses all the digital data cards in the data unit 14, the first analog data card will be addressed. When an analog ~ data card ls addressed, it generates an A~ACA~D signal which is applied to the 'analog' line ~Fig~re 6) to the gate 162 and to the analog data bit counter 1S6. The ANACARD signal inhibits the control signals FT and 4T from incrementing the point address counter 140 and concurrently enables the analog data point counter 156 to increment in response to the combined l ~ 61 5~

FT and 4T control signals. The strobe generator 158, in response to the combined FT and 4T control signals, generates pulses which are applied over the 'strobe' line to shift the contents of the analog data card shif-t register (not shown) to the 'data' input of the appropriately enabled data selector 116.
The analog data bit counter 1.55 is a modulo 16 counter and, when enabled by the ANACARD signal, increments in response to the combined FT and 4T control signals which are simultaneously used to generate the analog data card shift register shift pulses by the strobe generator 158.
Thus, the analog data bit counter 156 counts the analog data bits as they are shifted to the 'data' line. When all 16 analog data bits of the addressed analog data point have been shifted by the strobe pulses, the analog data bit counter 156 increments the point address counter 140 by one to address the next analog data point.
The analog message frames are formed in the same manner as described above for the digital message frames.
For the first analog data point addressed, the first group of eight analog data bits are inserted in bit positions 1].-18 of the analog data word lA and the second group of eight analog data bits are inser-ted in the bit positions 21-28 of the analog data word lB. For the second analog data point addressed, the first group of eight analog data bits are in-serted in the bit positions 31-38 of the analog data word 2A
and the second group of eight analog data bits are inserted in the bit positions 41-48 of the analog data word 2B.

.

l 1 61 S67 As described above, the modulo two flip-flop counter 160 is provided to inhibit the transmission of analog data frames every other data cycle. The flip-flop 160 is reset by the RESET siynal applied to the R input and enabled for toggling by the binary HIG~ connection to the J and K inputs. A NAND gate G2 has one of its inputs connected to the Q output of the flip-flop 160 and the other of its inputs connected to the 'analog' line. The output of the NAND gate is connected to the comparator 148 as described below. The comparator 148 has two sets of eight bit binary number inputs, the A0-A7 inputs, and the C0-C7 inputs, and a A<C output which is connected to the clear in-puts of both the point address counter 140 and the card address counter 142 through an inverter Il. The A<C output remains HIGH when A<C and is LOW when A=C or A>C. The counters 140 and 142 are cleared to zero whenever A<C. The A0-A6 inputs are connected to the seven parallel outputs of the switch register 150 and the 8th bit position, that A ' is, the 2 A7 input is connected to the output of the NAND
gate. Whenever the NAND gate G2 applies a binary 1 to the A7 input, the comparator 148 will see a binary number at its AO-A7 inputs equal to the sum of the 128 number at the A7 input and binary number set in the switch register 150.
Whenever the NAND gate G2 applies a binary 0, the comparator 148 will see the binary num~er at its AO-A7 inputs equivalent to the number set in the switch register 150. The C0-C6 inputs are connected to the first seven bit positions of the card address counter 142 output and the 8th bit position, that is the 2 C7 position is connected to binary HIGH. This ~ 3 ~1 5~7 binary HIGH provides the binary equivalent of 128 to the comparator 148 C0-C7 inputs such that the comparator 148 sees a number ranging between the 128 when the card address counter 142 is 0000000 to 255 when the card address counter 142 address has incremented to 1111111 and is about to recycle.
For the first data cycle, the flip-flop 160 is reset by the RESET control signal applied to the R input.
The binary 1 at the Q output of the reset flip-flop 160 is applied to the NAND gate G2 along with the binary 0 ANACAR~ signal. The binary 1 from the NAND gate G2 is then applied to the A7 input of the comparator 148.
During the digital message frame portion of the first data cycle, the card address counter 142 will address the digital cards while the comparator 148 is comparing the A0-A7 in-puts to the C0-C1 inputs. The A0-A7 inputs will be equal to the binary sum of 128 (binary 1 at the A7 input) plus the binary number set in the switch register 150. The C0-C7 inputs will be equal to the binary sum of 128 (binary HIGH at the C7 input~ plus the C0-C6 card address which increments from 2ero to 127 during each full data cycle. As the card address C0-C6 increments from 0000000, the di~ital data cards will be addressed and their information contents inserted into digital message frames. After all the digital cards have been addressed, the first analog data card will be addressed and provide an ANACARD signal to the C input of the flip-~lop 160 and to the NAND gate G2. In response to - the ANACARD signal, the N~ND gate G2 output will change from binary 1 to binary 0 and remove the binary 1 from the A7 input. Since the A7 input is at binary zero, the A0-A7 5~7 inputs will be 128 less than the C0-C7 inputs and the A<C
output will go HIGH providingja binary 0 to the clear in-puts of the counters 140 and 142 to i~mediately clear these counters to zero to terminate the data cycle wit.hout addressing the analog data cards. When the counters 140 and 142 are cleared, the address is removed from the first analog card removing the ANACARD signal from the C input of the flip-flop 160 to cause this flip-flop to toggle to its set state.
During the next data cycle, the binary 0 at the Q output of the set flip-flop 160 is applied to the NAND
gate G2 along with the binary 0 ANACARD signal causing a binary 1 to be applied by -the NAND gate G2 to the A7 input of the comparator 148. During the digital message frame portion of the next data cycle, the card address counter 142 will address the digital cards while the comparator 148 con-tinues to cornpare its A0-A7 inputs to its C0-C7 inputs. The AO-A7 inputs will be equal to the binary sum of 128 (~inary 1 at the A7 input) plus the binary number set in the switch register 150. The C0-C1 inputs will be equal to the binary sum of 128 (binary HIGH at the C7 input) plus the C0-C6 card address which increments from zero to 127 during each full data cycle. As the card address C0-C6 increments up from - 0000000, the digital data cards will be addressed and their information contents inserted into digital message frames.
After all the digital cards have been addressed, the first analog data card will be addressed and provide an AN~CARD
signal to the C input of the flip-flop 160 and to the NAND

~ l ~15~7 gate G2. Because of the binary 0 at the Q output o~
the set flip-flop 160, the NAND gate G2 does not change its binary 1 output to the A7 input. Thus, A0-A6 will be greater than CO~C6 allowing the counter 142 to address through the a'nalog data cards to provide analog message frames. When the card address counter 142 counts to the number set in the switch register and recycles to the next higher number, the C0-C6 inputs exceeds the A0 A6 inputs-to cause the comparator 148 A<C output to go HIGH, thereby clearing the counters 142 and 140 to terminate the data cycle and lnitiate the next successive data cycle. In this way, the flip-flop 160, the comparator 148, and the switch register inhibit analog message frames every other data cycle.

~ 41 tl~t~7 The Receiver Circuitr~
~ he receiver 200 includes a timing and control signal section (Figure 8), a sync and checkword section (Figure 9), and a data and header word storage section (Figure 10).
The receiver 200 timing and control signal section (Figure 8) is similar to the transmitter 100 control signal section (Figure 4) and includes a clock 202 which provides a train of clock pulses at the same pulse repetition rate as the transmitter clock 102 (9.85 MPPS).
The clock pulses are inputted to a frequency divider 204 which in turn increments an intra-bit counter 206 serially cascaded with a frame interval counter 208. The outputs of the counters 206 and 208 are connected, respectively, to a decoder 210 and a decoder 212. The counter 2C6 is adapted to recycle each bit inter~al with the decoder 21~ providing four intra-bit outputs lR, 2R, 3R, and 4R each binary interval. Each intra-bit output occupies one-quarter o~ a bit inter~a~. The counter 206 may be cleared to zero at any time during its se~uencing by a RESYNC signal applied to its clear input. The counter 208 is adapted to rec~cle each 80 bit frame interval with the decoder 212 providing the timing and control signals AR, BR, CR, DR, FR, GR, HR, and IR. These timing and control signals are illustrated in Figures 3B and 3B' in vertical registration with the bit positions of the message frame of Figures 3 and 3'. The decoder 212 is adapted to be held or maintained in a preset state prior to and during bit interval 0 by an appropriate control signal applied to the preset input of the counter 208.

1~161$67 The clock pulse output of the clock 202 is also inputted to a frequency divider 214 which in turn drives a de-coder 216. The frequency divider 214 is adapted to divide each binary interval into eight sub intervals. The decoder 216 is adapted to recognize the 7th sub-interval and reset a latch 218 and a flip-flop 238 described below. The reset latch 218 provides an enable signal to the receiver control flip-flop 222 described below. The ~requency divider 214 is adapted to be held in its reset to zero state prior to the reception Of the incoming marker bit by the Q output of the receiver control flip-flop, described below, and enabled for dividing by a combination of the Q output of the receiver control flip-flop and the marker bit applied to the frequency divider 214 enable input through a logic gate Gl. This same signal combination is also applied to the S input of the latch 218 to set this latch when the marker bit is irst received.
As in the case of the transmitter 100, the decoders 210 and 212 may ta~e the form of appropriately microprogrammed read only memories (ROM) and the various out-puts of the decoders 210 and 212 may be inputted to variousinverters, A~D, and OR gates (not shown) in a conventional manner to provide various NOT, sum of the products, and product of the sums control signals. The timing and control signals are utilized by the receiver 200 circuitry 5 ~ ~

shown in Figures 9 and 10 to selectively enable or inhibit various devices to permit the receiver 200 to validate the various message frames and update the data cards in the data unit 16.
The sync and checkword section (Figure 9) includes an optical coupler 220, a receiver control flip-flop 222, a sync and checkword shift register 224, a sync word switch register 226, an EXCLUSIVE O~ circuit 228, a parity/start flip-flop 230, a parity bit EXCLUSIVE OR
circuit 232, a start bit EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 234, a data selector 236, a flip-flop 238, and a one shot mono-stable multivibrator 240.
The message frames are transmitted to the receiver 200 over the communication lin~ 12 which is connected to an LED-phototransistor coupler 220. The output of the coupler 220, labeled 'incoming data', is connected to , various devices in the receiver 200 as described below.
The receiver control flip-flop 222 is a D-type positive edge triggered flip-flop which is adapted, in response to appropriate controls, to provide a binary zero : PRESET and binary 1 ENABLE signal at its Q output as well ~ as the binary complement of these signals at its Q output.

11 :1 61 5~7 The D input of the receiver control flip-flop 222 is connected to the Q output of the latch 218 (Figure 8) and the C input is connected to 'incoming data' through the inverter 242.
The sync word switch register 226, which is connected to the parallel inputs of the sync and checkword shift register 224, is adapted to store the preselected sync word in a manner similar to the switch register 120 of the transmitter 100 Eor loading into the sync and checkword shift register 118. The EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 228 has its output connected to the serial input of the sync and checkword shift register 224 and also to the 'sync/check' input of the data selector 236. An input of the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 228 is connected to the 'incoming data' line and the other input is connected to the serial output of the sync and checkword shift register 224.
The parity/start flip-flop 230 is a J-K type flip-flop provided to generate parity and start bits for comparision with the 'incoming data' parity and start bits.
The comparision between the incoming parity bits and the parity bits generated by the flip-flop 230 is accomplished by the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232, and the comparison between the ln-coming start bits and the start bits generated by the flip~
flop 230 is accomplished by the EXCLU5IVE OR circuit 234. The ~ 3~15~

.

Q output of the parity/start flip-flop 230 is connected to one input of the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 and the Q onput is connected to one input of the ~XCL~SIVE OR circuit 234.
The other inputs of the EXC~USIVE OR circuits 232 and 234 are connected, as are the J and K inputs of the parity/
start flip-flop 230, to the 'incoming data' line. The out-put of the EX~LUSIVE OR circuit 232 connects to the 'parity' input line of the data selector 236 and to the trigger input of the one shot multivibrator 240. The output of the other EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 234 is connected to the 'start' input of the data selector 236. The data selectox 236 is enabled by the control signals AR and BR to select one of its input lines and route the selected input to the data selector 236 output which in turn is connected to the message termination flip-flop 238.
The Q output of the flip-flop 238 is connected to the receiver control flip-1Op 222 R input.
The data word storage section (Figure 10) includes serially cascaded shift registers 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, and 249 which are adapted to store, respectively, the first, second, third, and fourth data bytes, the card address information in the first header word, and the point address and error bit information in the second header word. The parallel load inputs of a card address counter 2S0 are connected to the parallel inputs o the shift register 248 and the point address bit positions of t~e shift register 249 are connected to the parallel inputs of a point address counter . 46 l 1 ~1567 252. The ~inary address information in the shift registers 248 and 249 is loaded, respectively, into the counters 250 and 252 ~y the GR timing and control signal applied to the load input of these counters. ~he parallel outputs of the counters 250 and 252 are connected, respectively, to the data card and the data point selection logic circuits 254 and 256. These selection circuits, 254 and 256, in response to the counters 250 and 252, are adapted to sequentially address the data cards and their respective data points in the data unit 16.
A quad ~OR gate 258 ~hich may be enabled by a combination of the FR and 4R control signals, is connected to the last four bit positions of the second header word shift register 249 with the output of the NOR gate 258 inputted to a data readout control flip-flop 260.
The readout of the data in the shift registers 244-249 to the data cards in the data unit 16 is con~
trolled by the read out control flip-flop 260, the digital read out counter 262, the analog read out counter 264, and the digital-analog selection logic 266. The digital read out counter 262 is adapted to receive clock pulses from the timing and control secion (Figure 8) and divide . the pulses to provide high speed shift pulses to the shift registers 244-249 through the gate 268; high speed shift pulses to shift the analog data card shift register in the data unit 16; and incrementing pulses for the ~7 ~ 1 6~ ~67 serially cascaded point address and card address counters 252 and 250 through the digital~analog selection logic 266.
The counter 264 is adapted to receive its input pulses from the counter 262 and supply incrementing pulses through the selection logic 266 to the point address counter 252. The selection logic 266 operates in response to a signal, either an ANACARD or an ANACARD signal, issued by ~he selected data card in the data unit 16. If the selected data card is a digital data card, the selection logic 266, in response to the ~NACARD signal, directs the output of the digital read out countèr 262 to the serial input of the point address counter 252, and if the selecked card is an analog data card, the selection logic 266, in response to the ANACA~D signal, directs the output of the analog read out counter 264 to the serial input of the point address counter 252.
Receiver Message Frame and Data ~cle Operation Prior to binary interval zero, the receiver 200 is maintained in a preset state by the reset receiver control flip-flop 222. The Q output of ~he flip-flop 222 is applied to the frame interval counter 208 (Fi~ure 8) to i~itialize the counter 208 such that a binary one is applied to the decoder 212 to provide the timing and control signals illustrated in Figures 3B and 3B' for binary interval one;
to the load input of the sync and checkword shift register 1 3~5~7 224 to load the predetermined sync word from the sync word switch register 226 in-to the shift register 224; and to the S
input of the parity/start flip-flop 230 to set tllis flip-flop.
The Q output of flip-flop 222 of Figure 9 is applied through a yatè Gl (Figure 8) to the enable input of the frequency divider 214 to inhibit this divider from functioning and to the S input of the latch 218 to set this latch. The binary zero from the Q
output of the set latch 218 is applied to the D input of the receiver control flip-flop 222.

When an incoming messaye frame arrives over the communications link 12, the marker bit is combined through gate G1 (~iyure 8) with the Q output of the reset receiver control flip-flop 222 to the enable input of the frequency divider 214 and to the S input of the latch 218 to set the latch when the marker bit is first received. The complement of the marker ~it is applied to the C input of the receiver control flip-flop 222 throuyh inverter 2~2 (Figure 9). The enabled frequency divider 214, in response to its clock signal input, divides each binary interval into eight sub-intervals. The decoder 21G recognizes the counter output corresponding to a 7/8th of the bit interval zero, and applies a pulse to the reset input of the latch 218.
The latch 218, when reset, applies a binary 1 to the D input of the receiver control flip-flop (Figure 9). When the complement of the marker bit binary 1 to binary 0 signal level transition is applied to the C input, the receiver control flip-flop 222 is triggered to its set state to provide a binary 1 ENABLE signal at its Q OlltpUt and the complement of this signal at its Q output. In response to the si~nals, 1 3 ~ 1 567 the sync and checkword shift register 224 is enabled, and the frame interval counter 208 (Figure 8) is enabled to begin counting from the initial count of one and thereby permit the decoder 212 to provide the frame interval ti~ing and control signals of Figures 3B and 3B'.
During binary intervals 1-8, the sync word loaded into the shift register 224 is shifted out by a combination of the CR and 3R timing and control signals. The EXCLUSIVE
OR circuit 228 compares the bits of the incoming sync word with the corresponding bits of the stored sync word. If the compared bits are the same, the EXCLUSrVE OR circuit 228 provides a binary 0 to the serial input of the sync and checkword shift register 224. If all the bits of the in-coming sync word match the stored sync word, the shift register 224 will be filled by binary zeros at binary position 8. Concurrent with the sync word comparision, the data selector 236 is enabled by the timing and control signals AR and BR to select its 'sync/check' input for routing to the data selector 236 output. If a mismatch is detected by the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 228 between the incoming sync word and the stored sync word, a ~inary 1 will appear at the output of the data selector 236. This binary 1 is applied to the C input of the message termination flip-flop 238 to cause the flip-flop 238 to reset. The binary 1 at the Q of the flip-flop 238 is applied to the R input of the ~ 3 6~567 receiver control flip-flop 222 to reset this flip-flop.
The Q and Q signals of the reset receiver control flip-flop 222 return the receiver 200 to its pres~t state in the following manner. The Q output signal is applied to the frame interval counter 208 to initialize the counter 208 such that a binary one is applied to the decoder 212 to provlde the timing and control signals illustrated in Figures 3B and 3B' for binary interval one; to the load input of the sync and checkword shift register 224 to reload the sync word from the sync word switch register 226 into the shift register 224i and to the S input of the parity/start flip-flop 230 to set this flip-flop. The Q output is applied through the gate Gl to the enable input of the frequency divider 214 to enable this divider and to the S input of the latch 218 to set this latch upon receipt of the next mar~er pulse.
During the binary inter~als 1-8, when the incoming sync word is being compared, the parity/start flip-flop 230 is enabled for toggling by a combination of the CR
and 4R control signals applied to the C input of the flip~
. 20 flop 230. In a manner identical -to that described for the transmitter 100 parity/start flip-flop 114 (Figure 5), the flip-flop 230 changes state whenever a binary 1 in the incoming sync word is applied to the J and K inputs. If there are an even number of binary ones in the incoming sync word, the parity/start flip-flop 230 will be in its initial set state at binary position 8, and if there are an odd number of binary ones in the incoming sync word, the parity/start flip-flop 230 will be in its reset state. Thus, the Q output of the parity/start flip-flop 230 provides an internally generated parity bit indication, and the Q out-put provides an internally generated start bit indication which is the complement of the parity bit.
The parity EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 compares the incoming parity bit in bit position 9 with the parity bit generated by the parity/start flip-flop 230. During bit interval 9, the control signals AR and BR enables the data selector 236 to select its 'parity' input and thereby route the output of the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 to the flip-flop 238. Should a mismatch be detected between the parity bit generated by the parity/start flip-flop 230 and the incoming parity bit, a binary 1 will be applied through the data selector 236 and the flip-flop 238 to the receiver control flip-flop 222 to terminate the reception of the message and return the receiver 200 to the PRESET state as described above.
At the start of the first data word, bit position 10, the co~trol signals AR and BR enable the data selector 236 to select its 'start' input and route the output of the start EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 234 to the flip-flop 238. The start EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 234 compares the incoming start bit in bit position 10 with the start bit generated at the Q output of the flip-~lop 230. If a mismatch is detected, the recei~er 200 is caused to terminate the reception of the message and PRESET in the manner indicated above.

~ 3~1S~7 The one shot multivibrator 240 is provided to generate a RESYNC signal between each word in the message frame to maintain synchronism between the receiver 200 timing and control section (Figure 8) and the transmitter 100 timing and control section (Figure 4).
The one shot multivibrator 240 is of conventional design and is adapted to be selectively enabled by a combination of the IR control signal occurring at the parity bit positions of each word (bit positions 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, and 79~ and the last quarter intra-bit control signal 4R; and the HR control signal occurring at the start bit positions of each word (bit positions 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70) and the first quarter intra-bit control si~nal lR. The trigger input of the one shot multivibrator 240 is connected to the output of the parity EXCLUSIVE OR
- circuit 232. When the complementary parity and start bits occur at the end and beginning of the message words, the enabled one shot multivibrator 240 is triggered by a trigger pulse from the parity EXCL~SIVE OR circuit 232 to generate a RESYNC pulse of pre-selected duration at its output. The following ,two examples illustrate the trigger pulse formation.

~ 1 ~1567 If the incoming parity bit is a binary 1, the next bit, the complementary start bit, will be a binary 0. The EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 will compare the incoming binary 1 parity bit with the binary 1 generated at the Q output of the parity/start flip-flop 230 and provide a binary 0 out-put during th`e parity bit interval which indicates that the incoming and internally generated parity bits are the same.
In the next bit position, the complementary start bit position, the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 will compare the complementary binary 0 start bit ~ith the binary 1 at the Q output of the parity/start flip-flop 230 and provide a binary 1 output which is utilized to trigger the one shot multivibrator 240 to generate the RESYNC signal. Conversely, if the incoming parity bit is a binary 0, the next bit, the complementary start bit, will be a binary 1. The EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 will compare the incoming binary 0 parity bit with the binary 0 generated at the Q output of the parity/start flip-flop 230 and provide a binary 0 output during the parity bit interval which indicates that the incoming and internally generated parity bits are the same. In the next binary position, the complementary start bit position, the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 compares the complementaxy binary 1 start bit with the binary 0 at the Q output o~ the parity/
start flip flop 230 and provides a binary 1 output which is then utilized to trigger the one shot 240 to generate the RESY~C signal.

-~ 3 6~ 567 The RESYNC pulse is applied to tl-e clear in~ut of tl intra-bit counter 206 (Figure 8) to clear the counter to 0 ancl thereby restart and resynchronize the intra-bit counter 206 at the beginning of each word in thc message frame. The intra~bit counter 206 is a modulo 256 counter with the last two bit positions, that is, the last two least sicJnificant bits, utilized to drive the decoder 210. Thus, when the intra-bit counter 206 is resynchronized between mcss;lc~e worc1s, it will be resynchronized wi-thin 1/256 of a bit position. The frame interval counter 208 is indirectly syncllronized by virtue of its serially cascaded relationship with the directly resynchronized intra-bit counter 206.

If a mismatch is not detected in the incoming sync word, its parity bit, or the start bi-t of the first data word, as described above, the first data byte in bit positions 11-18 is shifted into the serially cascaded shift reg-sters 294-249 by a combination of the DR and 3R control signals. As the first data byte is shifted, the parity/start flip-flop 230 is functioning as described above to generate appropriate complementary parity and start ~itsl and the EXCL~SIVE OR
circuit 228 is functioning to generate a checkword intermediate result for shifting into the sync and checkword shift register 224. The EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 228 eompares the 'incomillg data' line with the output o the sync and checkwood shift register 224 and enters its outpu-t into the shift register 224 ~e~ial input. Since the sync and checkwood shift register 224 contains all zeros after the reception and comparison of the sync word, the first data byte, in bit positions 11-18, is entered into the shift register 224 by the EXCI.USIVE OR cireuit 228.

` 55 1 ~ 6156~

At bit positions l9 and 20, the data selector 236 is enabled by the timing and control signals AR and ~3R to successively select its 'parity' and then its 'start' inputs for routing to the flip-flop 238. During bit position 19, the parity EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 compares the incoming parity bit in bit posltion l9 with the parity bit generated at the Q output of the parity/s-tart flip-flop 230. Should a mismatc~ be detected between the parity bit generated by the parity/start flip-flop 230 and the inccmin~
parity bit, a binary 1 will be applied through the data selector 236 and the flip-flop 238 to the receiver control flip-flop 222 to terminate the reception of the message frame and return the receiver 200 to the PRESET state.
At the transition between the parity blt in bit position 19 and the complementary start bit in bit position 20, the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 initiates a trigger pulse, as described above, to trigger the one shot multivibrator 240 to generate i-ts RESYNC signal to resynchronize the intra-bit counter 206. During bit interval 20, the start EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 234 compares the incoming start bit in bit position 20 with the start bit generated at the Q
output of the parity/start flip-flop 230. Should a mis-match be detected between the start bit generated by the parity/start flip-flop 230 and the incoming. start bit, a binary l will be applied through the data selector 236 and the flip-flop 238 to the receiver control flip-flop 222 to terminate the reception of the message frame and return the receiver 200 to the PRESET state.

136~

In a manner identical to that described above for the first d~ta word, the data bytes of the seccnd, third and fourth data words will be shifted into the shift registers 244-249; their respective parity and start bits will be compared with the parity and start bits generated by the parity/start flip~flop 230; and the intra-bit counter 206 will be resynchronized between the data words. In addition, the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 228, in a successive manner, will compare the corresponding bits of the second data byte with the first data byte; compare the third data byte with the EXCLUSIVE OR
result of the second and first data bytes; compare the fourth data byte with the EXCLUSIVE OR result of the third, second, and first data bytes and load an intermediate EXCLUSIVE OR result into the sync and checkword shift register 224.
After the data bytes are shifted into the shift registers 244-249, the card address information of the first header word and the point address and error bit information of the second header word are shifted into the shift registers 244-249. In the manner described above, the incoming parity and start bits of the first and second header words are compared with the internally generated parity and start bits~ In addition, the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 228, in a successive manner, will compare the corresponding information bits of the first header word with the previously generated ` -~ ~ 6~5~7 EXCLUSIVE OR result of the fourth, third, second and first data word, and ~ill compare the information bits of the second header word with the EXCLUSIVE OR results of the previous words in the message frame and enter the final EXCLUSIVE OR result, the checkword, into the sync and check-word shift register 224.
Commencing at bit position 71 and continuing until bit position 78, the data selector 236 is enabled by its control signals AR and BR to select its 'sync/check' input and the corresponding bits of the incoming checkword and the checkword stored in sync and checkword shift register 224 are compared, bit by bit, by the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 228.
The reception of the incoming message frame will be terminated and the receiver 200 will be returned to its PRESET condition if a mismatch i5 detected between the incoming checkword and the internally generated checkword in the same manner as described above.
During the bit interval 79, the data selector 236 is enabled by its timing and control signals AX and BR to select its 'parity' input while the EXCLUSIVE OR circuit 232 compares the incoming checkword parity bit with the internally generated parity bit at the Q output of the parity/start flip-flop 230. Should a mismatch be detected, the receiver 200 will be returned to its PRESET condition as ~reviously indicated.

r~

~ ~ 6 1 5~7 The error bits in the incoming message frame are stored in the first four bit positions of the shift register 249. As described above, these bit position outputs are connected to the inputs of the quad NOR gate.2~8 which is enabled by a combination of the ER and 4R control signals at the bit position 79. If an error ~it is transmitted with the incoming data, the NOR gate 258, when enabled, will not cause the data to be read out.
The read out of the data in the shift registers 244-247 is controlled by the read out flip-flop 260, the a~alog data bit counter 264; the digital data bit counter 262, and 'che selection logic 266. The data read out flip-flop 260 is initially placed in its reset state by the RESET
control signal applied to its R input. In this state, a binary 0 at the Q output is applied to the clear inputs of the serially cascaded digital data bit counter 262 and the analog data bit counter 264 to hold these two counters in their cleared to zero states and to a logic gate 268 which is thereby inhibited. In the bit position 79, the NOR gate 258 is enabled by a combination of the FR and 4R control signals to respond to the binary e~ror bit information in the bit positions 65-68. If there are no error bits in the.
received message frame, the NOR gate 258 will trigger the : read out flip-flop 260 to its set state to apply a binary 1 from the Q output to the clear inputs of the digital data bit counter 262 and the analog data bit counter 264 to thereby allow these two counters to increment in response to the clock signals. The flip-flop 260 upon being set also enables logic gate 268.

~ ~ 6~67 If a digital data card is being addressed, the AMACARD signal presented to the selection logic 266 causes the output pulses from the digital data bit counter 262 to be directed to the point address counter 252 to increment this counter. The digital data bit counter 262 will incre-ment the point address counter 252 to successi~ely address data points and data cards in the data unit 16, and generate and provide shift pulses through the logic gate 268 to shift the data bits out of the shift register 24~-247 as the data points and data cards are being addressed.When 32 digital data bits have been shifted, the read out flip-flop 260 is reset ~y a signal from the analog bit counter 264. The reset flip-flop 260 clears both counters 262 and 264, inhibits the logic gate 268 and terminates -the digital data read out.
If the data card ~eing addressed is an analog data card, the ANACARD signal presented to the selection logic 266 will direct count pulses from the analog data blt counter 264 to the point address counter 252 to incre-ment this counter. The analog data bit counter 264 willincrement the point address counter 252 to successively address data points and data cards in the remote data unit 16. The counter 262 will at the same time generate and provide shift pulses applied through the logic gate 268 to shift the data ~ytes out of the shift registers 244-247, and generate shift pulses through the pulse generator 270 for application to the analog data card shift register. Because 16 analog data bits must be read into each analog data point as compared to one digital data bit for each digital data point, the analog data bit ocunter 264 is adapted to divide the output of the digital data bit counter 262 by a factor of 16. ~len 32 analog data bits have been shifted out of the shift registers 244-247, the read out flip-flo~ 260 is reset by a signal from the analog data bit counter ~64 applied to its R input to thereby clear both counters 262 and 264, inhibit the logic gate 268, and terminate the data read out.
The clock divide rates of the digital data bit counter 262 and the analog data bit counter 264 are such that the data 10 bytes in the shift registers 244-247 are read out at a high speed when compared to the rate the data bytes were read into the registers 244 247 by the combined D~ and 3R control signals.
If there were any error bits transmitted in the incoming message frame, the NOR gate 258 output will not set the flip-flop 260 which in turn will not enable the digital data bit counter 262 or the analoq data bit counter 264, thus preventing any data read out.
The receiver is also Drovided with a time o~t indicator (not shown) to determine if message frame transmission time is excessive. The time out indicator includes a down counter which is loaded with a maximum time value, such as the time value equivalent to two message frames, at the beginning of each message frame. The counter is decremented by suitable clock pulseq, and if the counter goes to zero, an excessive transmission time indica-tion is ~rovided.
A3 will be apparent to those skilled in the art, various changes and modifications may be made to the apparatus of the present invèntion without departi~g from the 1 1 B15~7 spirit and scope of the.present invention as recited in the appended claims and their legal equivalent.

~,- .

Claims (4)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A serial data transmission system comprising:
a transmitter for transmitting serially arranged b of binary information:
a receiver for receiving said bits;
an information carrying communications link extending between said transmitter and said receiver;
means associated with said transmitter for arranging said binary information transmitted by said transmitter into data cycles each having a plurality of serially arranged data containing message frames;
said message frames further divided into message frames containing data of a first type and at least one message frame containing data of a second type;
means associated with said transmitter for establish-ing a ratio between data cycles transmitted with and data cycles transmitted without message frames containing data of said second type.

2. The serial data transmission system claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
data cards serially arranged in a first group having data of said first type and in a second group having data of said second type;
means for addressing said data cards in a successive serial manner;
means for counting the number of addressed data cards;
comparing means connected to said counting means to compare said data card count with a predetermined number and terminate the data cycle and initiate another data cycle when the data card count equals said predetermined number;

means connected to said comparing means to cause said comparator to terminate the data cycle and initiate another data cycle after said data cards of said first type have been addressed in accordance with said ratio between data cycles transmitted with and data cycles transmitted without message frames containing data of said second type.

3. The serial data transmission system claimed in claim 2, wherein said terminating means comprises a bi-state device which triggers between a first and a second state for each data cycle.

4. The serial data transmission system claimed in claim 3, wherein said comparator further comprises:
a first set of binarily weighted bit inputs and a second set of binarily weighted bit inputs;
the most significant bit position of said first input set maintained at binary 1 and the remaining bit positions of said first input set connected to said address counting means to input the addressed card count into said comparator;
and the most significant bit position of said second input set connected to said output of said bi-state device such that the most significant bit of said second input set is binary one every other data cycle, the remaining bit positions of said second input set connected to a means for establishing said predetermined binary number for input to said comparator;
an output of said comparator connected to said addressing means and said counting means.