Patent ID: 7320040

Claim:
A data distribution system comprising: a controller that transmits a bit string including a plurality of individual data; a transfer apparatus that receives the bit string from the controller, extracts the individual data from the bit string received, and transfers the individual data to corresponding input/output units; and a plurality of input/output units, each of which controls an input/output state based on the individual data received from the transfer apparatus, wherein the transfer apparatus includes a dividing unit that divides the bit string received from the controller into data fragments; a specifying unit that specifies, from the data fragments, a specified data fragment that includes the individual data addressed to a target input/output unit; an operating unit that processes the specified data fragment without performing a bit shift operation, generates a target data fragment for each of the input/output units, and transmits the target data fragment to a respective input/output unit of the plurality of input/output units through a transmitting unit; and the transmitting unit that transmits the target data fragments and template information to the respective input/output units, wherein the template information indicates an area where the individual data relative to the respective input/output unit is stored in the target data fragment, and at least one of the plurality of input/output unit includes a storing unit that stores the template information received from the transfer apparatus; and an extracting unit that extracts the individual data used by the respective input/output unit from the target data fragment received from the transfer apparatus, based on the template information stored.