Distributed status reporting system
AssigneeSperry Corporation
InventorsLouis C. Metz, Leroy A. Prohofsky
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A modular bus system for reporting the status of a plurality of geographically distributed data points. The data points may be independently located or grouped with the status of each being monitored by a processor which is coupled to the data points via a bus multiplexer, a plurality of buses and a plurality of single point and multiplexed transmitters. Each bus may be coupled to a plurality of the transmitters and may be configured open or closed loop. The system operates to simultaneously interrogate each of the buses via interrogation signals, which also supply the power to the transmitters, and produces a serial response signal containing the status information of the interrogated data points.
Claims9
A status reporting system, comprising:
- a plurality of communication buses;
- a plurality of data points;
- a plurality of transmitter means, each coupling at least an associated one of said data points to an associated one of said communication buses for transmitting signals therebetween;
- processor means;
- multiplexer means coupled to said processor means and said plurality of communication buses for simultaneously coupling an address signal to said plurality of communication buses, said address signal simultaneously selecting only an addressed one of the plurality of data points that are coupled to each of said communication buses;
- at least a predetermined one of said plurality of transmitter means selected for coupling at least two of said data points to the associated communication bus;
- and
- each of said transmitter means, data point combinations including means for generating a status response signal when said address signal selects the addressed one of said data points and for simultaneously coupling the status response signal from each of the addressed ones of said data points to said communication buses and thence to said multiplexer for transmission to said processor means in a modified form.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.