Processor module for a programmable controller
US4443865A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 26, 1981 |
| Grant date | Apr 17, 1984 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 26, 2001 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/24
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A processor module is one of several modules mounted in a rack to form a programmable controller. The module has a microprocessor that executes a sequence of machine language instructions to interpret and thereby execute macroinstructions that are part of a control program stored in a read/write volatile main memory. The rate of execution is improved by reducing the instructions in a fetch sequence used in coupling each macroinstruction to its interpreter sequence of machine-language instructions. Hardware assistance is provided to allow expansion of macroinstruction operation codes as they are fetched. The processor module also allows the user to program his own interpreter sequences for specially defined macroinstructions and to load these sequences into a nonvolatile memory that is plugged into the module. An external auxiliary power supply is connected to the processor module to supply the programming voltage required by the nonvolatile memory.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.