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Telephone subscriber distribution system

  • US 4,071,711 A
  • Filed: 06/20/1975
  • Issued: 01/31/1978
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/02/1974
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A multipoint information distribution system comprising a central station and a plurality of physically separated outlying stations, each outlying station comprising at least one terminating circuit whereby said system comprises a plurality of terminating circuits;

  • said central station comprising a plurality of connecting ports equal in number to the plurality of terminating circuits;

    and means for coupling selected ones of said terminating circuits to selected ones of said connecting ports one at a time;

    characterized in that said coupling means comprisesmeans including a multiplexer means at said central station for time sampling contents of said connecting ports in an ordered sequence during cyclically recurring time slots to provide, at an output of said multiplexer means, a first sequentially ordered sample stream;

    transmission means at said central station for sending said sample stream directly and in common to each outlying station on a first medium whereby identical sample streams are sent to each outlying station;

    receiving means at each outlying station adapted to receive said sample streams;

    control means at each outlying station coupled to said receiving means to permit only samples in preselected time slots to be applied to selected terminating circuits at said outlying station;

    transmission means at each said outlying station; and

    means for providing a signal to said transmission means;

    said control means comprising means for gating said transmission means only during the preselected time slots of their respective terminating circuits to thereby provide samples of said signal, whereby each outlying station transmits, on a second medium, samples of the signal provided to their respective transmission means;

    said outlying stations comprising means for arranging the transmission time slots at each station relative to one another so that samples will arrive at a receiving means of the central station in a second sequentially ordered sample stream;

    distributor means comprising a demultiplexer means at said central station connected to an output of said receiving means and adapted to distribute said time distributed samples into their respective connecting ports;

    said central station further comprising traffic control logic (TCL) means;

    said TCL being adapted to poll the outlying stations in a predetermined sequence and in an unoccupied time slot selected at random by the TCL, to determine the circuit demand status of each outlying station;

    said TCL being still further adapted to provide a communications channel, in said unoccupied time slot, between a respective terminating circuit and the central station when it detects a circuit demand condition at the terminating circuit or connecting port;

    and means at said terminating circuit for locking its receiver means and transmitter means onto said unoccupied time slot;

    said TCL further comprising means for selecting another unoccupied time slot for further polling of the uncommitted outlying stations.

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