Patent GB-975792-A (GB)
IPC: G08B25/10
Abstract: 975,792. Electric selective signalling. FERRANTI Ltd. June 27,1963 [July 7,1962],No. 26145/62. Heading G4H. An event at a remote station is signalled to a receiving station by modifying a binary digit chain code generated at the remote station. Fig. 1 shows remote station equipment which generates a continuous chain code with a 15-bit repetition cycle 111101011001000, selected bits being inverted before transmission from the remote station. The code is generated by a fourstage shift register 1, the input to which is derived by AND-gates 4, 5, 6 from the contents of the register stages and their inverses in such a way that a 15-bit cycle is produced with no four adjacent bits repeated in the same cycle. The first five bits 11110.of the cycle are reserved as a start code and of the other ten bits two (7th and 11th are never inverted to prevent inversions accidentally repeating the start code. The remaining eight bits are each associated with one of eight events S--Z (opening or closing of circuit breakers or attainment of critical temperatures or pressures), AND-gates 11--18 having inputs connected to the stages of register 1 and to lines energized by occurrence of the events in such a way that the appropriate gates are enabled to change an electronic switch 8 so that the inverses of the appropriate bits are passed to a transmitter 9, as register 1 shifts, rather than the bits themselves. Figs. 2, 3 (not shown) show a receiving station in which the bits are shifted through a five-stage shift register, inverted bits being reinverted as they pass from the first to the second stage of the register by an electronic switch interposed between these stages. This switch is actuated by any one of eight AND-gates each connected to register stages so that each gate gives an output on the arrival of one of the eight inversions, and besides achieving re-inversion also actuates an event indicator. These eight AND- gates are not permitted to have an effect unless a start code has been received in the last 15 bits, an alarm being given if it has not: this is achieved by another AND-gate connected to the register stages and controlling a monostable flip-flop. Figs. 4-7 (not shown) relate to a system in which eight remote stations (each as in Fig. 1) communicate simultaneously over individual lines with an intermediate state which generates a chain code like that of each remote station but in which each of eight bits is assigned to a particular remote station and is inverted if there are any inverted bits in the chain code received from that remote station. The intermediate chain code is transmitted to the receiving station interleaved with the modified remote station chain cod codes (if any), each of which immediately succeeds the intermediate chain bit associated with its remote station. Only alternate 15-bit cycles of the intermediate chain code are modified in this way, the other cycles being transmitted unmodified to act as a start code. At the intermediate station, each remote station chain code passes unchanged through a shift register the stages of which control a wire via AND-gates and monostable flip-flops to energize the wire if an inversion is present in the chain code or if the start code is not received once per 15 bits (Fig. 5, not shown). These wires (one for each remote station) act in a similar way to the lines controlled by events S--Z in Fig. 1 to control inversion in the intermediate chain code which is generated in a shift register as before except that shifting is temporarily stopped when an inversion occurs to allow the corresponding remote station chain code to be passed to the intermediate station transmitter (Fig. 6, not shown). Fig. 7 (not shown) shows the receiving station in which the 15-bit intermediate chain code is shifted into a first 15-stage shift register, inverted bits being re-inverted on passing from the first to the second stage thereof. AND-gates connected to the register stages detect any inverted bits and route the following fifteen bits (a remote station chain code) to a second 15-stage shift register which they do not in general enter because they have to pass through a normally-closed gate. Eight further AND-gates connected to stages of the first register each give an output when a particular inverted bit arrives. This output actuates an indicator specifying the remote station and also, if a corresponding manual switch is closed, opens the gate blocking access to the second shift register. Thus if this switch is closed, the corresponding remote station chain code is shifted into the second register, where it is cycled by a fast clock source until an AND-gate connected to register stages (to detect the start code 11110) indicates that it is in a standard position, when indicators connected to register stages indicate which events have occurred at the remote station. Modifications mentioned: (a) each remote station may have its own individual second shift register at the receiving station to allow events at different remote stations to be indicated simulataneously; (b) all fifteen bits of the intermediate chain code may each correspond to a remote station; (c) the modification of a chain code to indicate an event may take the form of shortening the chain code.