Apparatus for multiplexing digital signals

摘要

The invention is an apparatus and method for multiplexing digital information acquired from a multiplicity of data terminals distributed along a conductor of given length. A cyclic synchronization signal consisting of a stream of coding periods is transmitted upon the conductor. The duration of each coding period exceeds the two way travel time through the conductor. The leading edge of a coding period stimulates the transmission of one bit of a digital word stored in each terminal. The bits from the terminals arrive at a system receiver in a time sequence corresponding to the spatial distribution of the terminals. Bits are collected in storage registers according to their significance which is determined by the respective coding period during which they are received. A word from a particular terminal is derived by strobing the output of the storage registers at the time corresponding to the position of the terminal.