Programmable controller with modular firmware for communication control

Abstract From the Canadian patent

This invention relates generally to a programmable controller module. In almost all data management systems a controller is designed, to accommodate only peripheral devices having a common communication discipline. An object of this invention is to provide some identification of the discipline of each peripheral device connected to each channel serviced by a programmed controller module in order for the appropriate protocol to be used, and to provide the protocols for the different disciplines in separate selectable modules. A programmable controller module (PCM) for operably coupling a plurality of peripheral devices (PDs) of various communication disciplines to a data processor (DP) or to …