Back to results
US 6,270,040 B1Granted
Model train control system
AssigneeKAM Industries
InventorMatthew A. Katzer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system which operates a digitally controlled model railroad transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport. A second command is transmitted from a second client program to the resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport. The first command and the second command are received by the resident external controlling interface which queues the first and second commands. The resident external controlling interface sends third and fourth commands representative of the first and second commands, respectively, to a digital command station for execution on the digitally controlled model railroad.
Claims235
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to said resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command and said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) said resident external controlling interface queuing said first and second commands and deleting one of said first and second commands if they are the same;
- and
- (e) said resident external controlling interface sending a third command representative of said one of said first and second commands not deleted to a digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad.
3 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (c) queuing said first command in a command queue if said first command is different than all other commands in said command queue;
- and
- (d) said resident external controlling interface selectively sending a second command representative of said first command to one of a plurality of digital command stations for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad based upon information contained within at least one of said first and second commands.
2 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to a resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) receiving said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (e) queuing said first and second commands, and deleting one of said first and second commands if they are the same;
- and
- (f) said resident external controlling interface sending a third and fourth command representative of said first command and said second command, respectively, to the same digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad.
4 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a first processor through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said first processor;
- (c) queuing said first command in a command queue that is not a first-in-first-out command queue;
- and
- (d) said first processor providing an acknowledgment to said first client program through said first communications transport indicating that said first command has been validated against permissible actions regarding the interaction between a plurality of objects of said model railroad and properly executed prior to execution of commands related to said first command by said digitally controlled model railroad.
2 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to said resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command and said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) said resident external controlling interface queuing said first and second commands;
- (e) comparing said first and second commands to one another to determine if the result of executing said first and second commands would result in no net state change of said model railroad and the execution of one of said first and second command would result in a net state change of said model railroad;
- and
- (f) said resident external controlling interface sending third and fourth commands representative of said first and second commands, respectively, to a digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad if as a result of said comparing a net state change of said model railroad would result.
4 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (c) comparing said first command against other commands in a command queue to determine if the result of executing said first command and said other commands would result in no net state change of said model railroad and the execution of said first command would result in a net state change of said model railroad;
- and
- (d) said resident external controlling interface selectively sending a second command representative of said first command to one of a plurality of digital command stations for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad based upon information contained within at least one of said first and second commands.
2 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to a resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) receiving said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (e) comparing said first and second commands to one another to determine if the result of executing said first and second commands would result in no net state change of said model railroad and the execution of one of said first command and said second command would result in a net state change of said model railroad;
- and
- (f) said resident external controlling interface sending a third and fourth command representative of said first command and said second command, respectively, to the same digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad if as a result of said comparing a net state change of said model railroad would result.
4 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a first processor through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said first processor;
- (c) comparing said first command against other commands in a command queue to determine if the result of executing said first command and at least one of said other commands would result in no net state change of said model railroad and the execution of said first command would result in a net state change of said model railroad;
- and
- (d) said first processor providing an acknowledgment to said first client program through said first communications transport indicating that said first command has been executed.
2 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to said resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command and said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) said resident external controlling interface queuing said first and second commands;
- (e) comparing said first and second commands to one another to determine if the result of executing said first and second commands would result in a net state change of said model railroad that would also result from a single different command, and the execution of one of said first and second commands would result in a net state change of said model railroad;
- and
- (f) said resident external controlling interface sending said single different command representative of the net state change of said first and second commands to a digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad.
4 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (c) comparing said first command against other commands in a command queue to determine if the result of executing said first and second commands would result in a net state change of said model railroad that would also result from a single different command, and the execution of said first command would result in a net state change of said model railroad;
- and
- (d) said resident external controlling interface selectively sending said single different command to one of a plurality of digital command stations for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad.
2 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to a resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) receiving said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (e) comparing said first and second commands to one another to determine if the result of executing said first and second commands would result in a net state change of said model railroad that would also result from a single different command, and the execution of one of said first and second commands would result in a net state change of said model railroad;
- and
- (f) said resident external controlling interface sending said single different command to a digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad if as a result of said comparing such a single different command exists.
4 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a first processor through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said first processor;
- (c) comparing said first command against other commands in a command queue to determine if the result of executing said first command and at least one of said other commands would result in net state change of said model railroad that would also result from a single different command, and the execution of said first command would result in a net state change of said model railroad;
- and
- (d) said first processor providing an acknowledgment to said first client program through said first communications transport indicating that said first command has been executed.
2 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to said resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command and said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) said resident external controlling interface queuing said first and second commands;
- (e) queuing said first and second commands in a command queue based on a non-first-in-first-out prioritization;
- and
- (f) said resident external controlling interface sending third and fourth commands representative of said first and second commands, respectively, to a digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad based upon said prioritization.
4 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (c) queuing said first command in a command queue based on a non-first-in-first-out prioritization;
- and
- (d) said resident external controlling interface selectively sending a second command representative of said first command to one of a plurality of digital command stations for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad based upon information contained within at least one of said first and second commands and said prioritization.
2 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to a resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) receiving said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (e) queuing said first and second commands in a command queue based on a non-first-in-first-out prioritization;
- and
- (f) said resident external controlling interface sending a third and fourth command representative of said first command and said second command, respectively, to the same digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad based upon said prioritization.
4 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a first processor through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said first processor;
- (c) queuing said first command in a command queue based on a non-first-in-first-out prioritization;
- and
- (d) said first processor providing an acknowledgment to said first client program through said first communications transport indicating that said first command has been executed.
2 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to said resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command and said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) said resident external controlling interface queuing said first and second commands;
- (e) queuing said first and second commands in a command queue having the characteristic that valid commands in said command queue are removed from said command queue without being executed by said model railroad;
- and
- (f) said resident external controlling interface sending third and fourth commands representative of said first and second commands, respectively, to a digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad if not said removed.
4 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (c) queuing said first command in a command queue having the characteristics that valid commands in said command queue are removed from said command queue without being executed by said model railroad;
- and
- (d) said resident external controlling interface selectively sending a second command representative of said first command to one of a plurality of digital command stations for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad based upon information contained within at least one of said first and second commands if not said removed.
2 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a resident external controlling interface through a first communications transport;
- (b) transmitting a second command from a second client program to a resident external controlling interface through a second communications transport;
- (c) receiving said first command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (d) receiving said second command at said resident external controlling interface;
- (e) queuing said first and second commands in a command queue having the characteristic that valid commands in said command queue are removed from said command queue without being executed by said model railroad;
- and
- (f) said resident external controlling interface sending a third and fourth command representative of said first command and said second command, respectively, to the same digital command station for execution on said digitally controlled model railroad if not said removed.
4 more elements
A method of operating a digitally controlled model railroad comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a first command from a first client program to a first processor through a first communications transport;
- (b) receiving said first command at said first processor;
- (c) queuing said first command in a command queue having the characteristic that valid commands in said command queue are removed from said command queue without being executed by said model railroad;
- and
- (d) said first processor providing an acknowledgment to said first client program through said first communications transport indicating that said first command has been executed if not said removed.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.