Interface circuit for connecting peripheral equipment to a computer terminal
First Claim
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1. An interface controller, connected between peripheral equipment and a computer terminal, for selectively coupling plural pieces of peripheral equipment to the computer terminal, comprising:
- a bidirectional bus connecting the interface controller to the terminal;
means for synchronizing the timing of the interface controller with the terminal, connected to the terminal and to elements within the interface controller;
means responsive to control signals from the terminal for selecting the peripheral equipment to be operated and the operational direction of said bidirectional bus;
firmware means directly addressable by the terminal for modifying the control signals, which are generated in the terminal and are used to control the means for selecting, to correspond with the peripheral equipment; and
means for receiving asynchronous serial data from selected asynchronous data generating type peripheral equipment and synchronously coupling the data in a parallel format to the terminal over said bidirectional bus.
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Abstract
An electronic interface controller for coupling peripheral equipment, such as a keyboard, printer, or magnetic stripe reader, through a financial terminal to a financial computer system. The interface controller selects the peripheral equipment to be utilized, prescribes the operating mode, and establishes the timing and synchronization of the data transfer. Among its features the invention also includes a unique implementation of D-type flip-flops, with logic feedback, to create synchronous binary counters of selectable modulos.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. An interface controller, connected between peripheral equipment and a computer terminal, for selectively coupling plural pieces of peripheral equipment to the computer terminal, comprising:
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a bidirectional bus connecting the interface controller to the terminal; means for synchronizing the timing of the interface controller with the terminal, connected to the terminal and to elements within the interface controller; means responsive to control signals from the terminal for selecting the peripheral equipment to be operated and the operational direction of said bidirectional bus; firmware means directly addressable by the terminal for modifying the control signals, which are generated in the terminal and are used to control the means for selecting, to correspond with the peripheral equipment; and means for receiving asynchronous serial data from selected asynchronous data generating type peripheral equipment and synchronously coupling the data in a parallel format to the terminal over said bidirectional bus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification