Multiplexing of bytes of non-uniform length with end of time slot indicator

In a data transmission system wherein data in a plurality of constituent streams are received at a multiplexer, processed to form a single composite stream comprising time slots each carrying data from one constituent stream, transmitted in said composite stream over a communication link, and demultiplexed in a demultiplexer receiving said composite stream at the far end of said link to recover the original plurality of constituent streams in separate form, the improvement comprising in combination

• a plurality of queues in said multiplexer, each associated with one of said constituent streams and arranged and connected to receive and store data therefrom,
• first protocol-defining apparatus in said multiplexer and second protocol-defining apparatus in said demultiplexer each defining a service sequence for said queues, each queue appearing at least once in said sequence, and a codeword set, the elements thereof being bit sequences of non-uniform length, said set being uniquely parsable and including a terminator codeword used to designate the end of a slot,
• framing means in said multiplexer, communicating with said protocol-defining apparatus therein, and arranged and connected to emit a bit stream for transmission on said link in a sequence of time slots corresponding to said defined service sequence, the data in any one slot being derived from its associated queue, and in the form of codewords from said codeword set, said framing means emitting terminator codewords to mark the ends of at least some slots, and
• parsing means in said demultiplexer, communicating with said second protocol-defining apparatus, arranged and connected to parse and decode the composite stream of bits received from said link and to emit in separate form the original plurality of constituent data streams.