Interactive control system
First Claim
1. An interactive control system comprising an operator panel for communicating with an operator;
- said operator panel including panel input means for generating at least one input signal in response to an operator input action, display register means for storing at least one display signal from a data processor, and display output means for providing an operator display in response to the display signal stored in said display register means;
said interactive control system further comprising a stored program data processor processing digital data including memory means for storing a plurality of instructions, execution means for deriving the significance of the received input signal and for generating at least one display signal in response to execution of at least one of the stored instructions, processor register means for providing temporary storage of signals involved in the execution of instructions, processor input means for periodically sampling and for receiving the input signal in response to execution of at least one instruction, and processor output means for outputting the display signal to said display register means in response to execution of at least one instruction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system for an electronic data processing system minimizes hardwiring and specialized components and circuits and provides bidirectional communication between a data processor within the data processing system and an operator via intermediary binary digital input and output words. A separate aspect is the provision of a master control panel configuration including means for receiving input and output elements having generalized identities, in conjunction with encoder and decoder means interposed in the circuitry and reducing the interconnections between the panel and the data processing system. The control system converts the status of selector switches and momentary switches to signals representing an intermediary input word. The data processor processs and interprets the signals representing the input word and generates appropriate system responses. The data processor also generates and processs intermediary output words having a selected format for controlling lamp displays and segmented elements generating numeric displays. Consequently, the panel and system have relatively few interconnections but the use of generalized terms permits input positions and output displays to have varying and selectable meanings, as determined by the data processing system itself. The interactive control system includes decoders and drivers which illuminate displays in response to the output words. Circuitry is reduced by using a single character numeric display register to control illumination of several numeric displays by sequentialy illuminating the numeric character displays at a flicker-free rate. Each numeric display is excited at a rate of 30 cycles per second, requiring the contents of the numeric display register to be changed at a cyclic rate of 240 cycles per second.
32 Citations
15 Claims
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1. An interactive control system comprising an operator panel for communicating with an operator;
- said operator panel including panel input means for generating at least one input signal in response to an operator input action, display register means for storing at least one display signal from a data processor, and display output means for providing an operator display in response to the display signal stored in said display register means;
said interactive control system further comprising a stored program data processor processing digital data including memory means for storing a plurality of instructions, execution means for deriving the significance of the received input signal and for generating at least one display signal in response to execution of at least one of the stored instructions, processor register means for providing temporary storage of signals involved in the execution of instructions, processor input means for periodically sampling and for receiving the input signal in response to execution of at least one instruction, and processor output means for outputting the display signal to said display register means in response to execution of at least one instruction.
- said operator panel including panel input means for generating at least one input signal in response to an operator input action, display register means for storing at least one display signal from a data processor, and display output means for providing an operator display in response to the display signal stored in said display register means;
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2. A data processing system comprising:
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an operator panel for providing communication between an operator and the data processing system, said operator panel including a plurality of input elements for providing input signals to a data processor in response to operator action and including a plurality of display elements for displaying information in response to display signals stored in an intermediate register means; a said data processor for processing digital information including a. memory means for storing a plurality of instructions, b. execution means for interpreting the significance of received input signals and for executing the stored instructions in accordance with said interpretation, c. processor register means for storing digital signals involved in the execution of the instructions, d. processor input means for periodically sampling and for receiving the input signals in response to the execution of at least one of the stored instructions, e. output means for providing at least one intermediate output word to a display interface means in response to the execution of at least one stored instruction; and display interface means for generating display signals in response to the intermediate output word, said display interface means including intermediate register means for storing the intermediate output word. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5)
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6. A data processing system comprising:
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an operator panel for generating input signals to a data processor means in response to operator action; stored program data processor means for processing digital information including a. memory means for storing a program of a plurality of instructions, b. execution means for interpreting the significance of received input signals and for executing the stored instructions in accordance with said interpretation, c. data processor register means being shared for temporary storage of information involved in the execution of a plurality of the stored d. processor input means for periodically sampling and for receiving said input signals in response to the execution of at least one stored instruction, and e. output means for generating display signals in response to the execution of at least one stored instruction; display register means for storing the display signals generated by the data processor means; and display means for providing an operator display in response to the display signals stored in said display register means. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A data processing system comprising a stored program data processor for processing information in response to a stored program;
- said data processor including
a. memory means for storing a program, said program including a plurality of stored instructions, b. execution means for executing stored instructions to generate display signals in response to input signals received from a processor input means, said execution means including means for deriving the significance of said input signals, c. processor register means for storing information in response to execution of stored instructions, d. processor input means for periodically sampling and for receiving the input signals in response to at least one stored instruction, and e. processor output means for outputting at least one display signal in response to execution of at least one stored instruction; said data processing system further comprising panel means for communicating with a system operator;
said panel means includinga. a plurality of switch devices for generating the input signals in response to operator action, b. an interface register for storing the display signal that is output from the data processor, and c. a plurality of display devices for generating an operator display in response to the display signal stored in the interface register.
- said data processor including
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11. A display system comprising:
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display means for displaying information to an operator including a plurality of refreshable display elements for display of selected characters in response to select signals; select means connected to said display means for providing the select signals to select at least one of said plurality of display elements in response to a refresh command; interface register means for storing the refresh command from a stored program data processor output means and supplying said refresh command to said select means; and stored program data processor means for processing digital information including a. memory means for storing a program including a plurality of instructions, b. execution means for executing the stored instructions, c. processor register means for storing signals involved in the execution of each of a plurality of instructions, d. output means for generating the refresh command and for outputting said refresh command to said interface register means in response to the execution of at least one instruction. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A display system comprising:
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processor memory means for storing instructions and for storing digital data, said digital data including a plurality of display words wherein each display word includes refresh information for a different display element; means for accessing a display word from said processor memory means; means for generating a select code for selecting a particular display element; execution means for executing stored instructions to generate at least one intermediate display word in response to the stored display word that is accessed from said processor memory means and the select code from said select code generating means; processor register means for storing information in response to execution of stored instructions; output means for outputting the intermediate display word from said execution means in response to at least one of the stored instructions; interface memory means for storing the intermediate display word from said output means; and a plurality of refreshable display elements for providing an operator display in response to the intermediate display word stored in said interface memory means. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification