Abstract: A device for reading an item of information defined by a plurality of different intervals between consecutive elements on a data carrier, and corresponding methods of recognizing an item of information defined by a plurality of different intervals between consecutive pulses of a first pulsed signal. The device includes first and second element detectors arranged for motion relative to the elements on the data carrier, which detectors generate responses to the elements. The element detectors are spaced from each other by a distance e such that the responses to each element generated by said second element detector have a time delay e corresponding to the physical distance e with respect to the responses generated by said first element detector. The device further includes means for comparing the response of said first and second element detectors to produce an output signal representing the item of information.

Abstract: A particle feed arrangement for applying solid particles contained in a picle storage tank to an image carrier of a non-impact printer. The arrangement includes a conveying member in the form of an endless screw conveyor disposed to pass within a particle supply source to feed the particles to the vicinity of a surface of the carrier. A deflector is interposed between the carrier and the conveying member to collect the particles conveyed by the member. The deflector has one of its edges arranged in the immediate vicinity of the said carrier to form, in conjunction with the carrier, a trough of generally prismatic shape in which the particles so collected accumulate. The other edge of the deflector, which is formed by a rectangular plate, is virtually in contact with the peripheral extremities of the endless screw to cause the particles to be collected in the trough.

Abstract: A data processing system is provided which protects the secrecy of confidial data transmitted between a transmitting terminal and key, such as a credit card, which is used to authorize a dialogue between a data processing machine and an operator. A light pen is provided which is personal to each operator and which includes means for formulating the confidential data in a predetermined code and transmitting the coded information by means of an information carrying light wave. The light pen includes a keyboard which may be in the form of cursors movable along a longitudinal graduated scale which sets the coded data in accordance with the position of the cursors. To this end, the light pen houses an encoder, the output of which is fed to a shift register. The output of the shift register is modulated and fed to an optical-electrical transducer system which is screened to prevent unauthorized detection. The credit card receives the coded information through its own electrical transducer.

Abstract: A standardized access card is formed of a single or a pair of bonded sheets f material including a cavity within which is disposed an integrated circuit assembly for processing electrical signals arranged within the card. The thickness of the assembly is relatively smaller than the thickness of the card and terminal areas of the assembly are accessible through cut-outs in the card which may be open or plugged with conductive material. The card may be formed in a continuous process from a plurality of strips of material which separately provide the card material, the integrated circuit assembly and a cover for the device of the circuit assembly.

Abstract: A plurality of sub-clock signals are derived from a main clock signal sou by advancing a shift register and a counter with pulses from the main clock source. The shift register is selectively loaded with a desired combination of sub-clock bits in response to a predetermined number of main clock pulses being supplied to the counter. The sub-clock signals are derived from output terminals at different stages of the shift register. The state of the sub-clock signals can be selectively frozen by decoupling pulses from the main clock source to inputs of the counter and shift register.

Abstract: A standardized access card is formed of a single or a pair of bonded sheets of material including a cavity within which is disposed an integrated circuit assembly for processing electrical signals arranged within the card. The thickness of the assembly is relatively smaller than the thickness of the card and terminal areas of the assembly are accessible through cut-outs in the card which may be open or plugged with conductive material. The card may be formed in a continuous process from a plurality of strips of material which separately provide the card material, the integrated circuit assembly and a cover for the device of the circuit assembly.

Abstract: A system for transmitting digital signals between a fixed transmitter and a portable receiver which are temporarily interconnected by physical contacts which employs a single pair of contacts and a bidirectional data transfer technique to enhance the integrity of the data transfer. The single pair of contacts minimizes the possibility of data loss or contamination due to problems associated with temporary interconnecting and support a time-shared data transfer from a transmitter, which provides both data and synchronizing signals via a duration modulation technique on a pair of bipolar generators to a comparison receiver. The receiver synchronously acknowledges reception and provides, in turn, data back to the transmitter via a digital modulation of a signal current generator.

Abstract: A data processing system is provided which protects the secrecy of confidential data at the stages where it is formulated and transmitted to a card (first auxiliary member) having a code key thereon. The data processing system includes a data-processing machine having a device or terminal for transmitting data, including confidential data, and a plurality of first members auxiliary to the machine which are each intended to receive the confidential data from the transmitting device via the same transmission line and to process this confidential data. The transmitting device includes a plurality of second auxiliary members which correspond to respective ones of the first auxiliary members. Each pair of corresponding first and second auxiliary members include respective generators for generating first and second code keys and the system includes a means for causing one of the first code keys to correspond with one of the second code keys.

Abstract: There is provided a reader for reading information magnetically coded on a carrier. The reader includes a magnetizing device for magnetizing the information precoded on the carrier and a transducer for detecting the magnetized information as the carrier is translated successively past the magnetizer and transducer. The magnetizer includes at least one magnetic layer having a succession of adjoining zones, the length of alternate zones being much greater than the length of the other zones and the magnetic induction in the zones being of opposite sense. The transducer includes at least one magneto-resistive detecting member and a magneto-resistive compensating member which are of anisotropic magnetic material. The members are disposed to develop across the compensating member a voltage in response to the interference magnetic field which is equal to that developed across the detecting member due to that field.

Abstract: Apparatus is disclosed for cumulative summing and compressing data items each of which is comprised of b binary elements.

Abstract: A phase comparator circuit arrangement is provided for controlling an electrical member on the basis of a control signal formed in accordance with the difference detected between a first waveform which is periodic and has a constant cyclic ratio, after it has locked on to a reference signal, and a second waveform which, after this locking on for which it serves as a reference, becomes non-periodic with a variable cyclic ratio for the purposes of exerting the said control. The circuit comprises a combination of a first bistable flip-flop circuit which receives the first and second waveforms respectively and which receives enabling voltages whose evolution is complementary between one input and the other. Means to subtract the waveform emitted by the first flip-flop circuit from the first waveform are provided to form the said signal for controlling the member.

Abstract: A communications system in which control or access to a channel is distributed among the several transmitting-receiving station linked by the channel rather than being centralized or under a master station control.

Abstract: Computer data and procedure protection by preventing processes from intering with each other or sharing each other's address space in an unauthorized manner is accomplished in hardware/firmware by restricting addressability to a segmented memory and by a ring protection mechanism.To protect information in segments shared by several processes from misuse by one of these processes a ring protection hardware system is utilized. There are four ring classes numbered 0 through 3. Each ring represents a level of system privilege with level 0 (the innermost ring) having the most privilege and level 3 (the outermost ring) the least. Every procedure in the system has a minimum and a maximum execute ring number assigned to it which specifies who may legally call the procedure. Also maximum write and read ring numbers specify the maximum ring numbers for which a write and/or read operation is permitted.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for processing documents having both pre-printed information adapted to be identified by an automatic recognition device and handwritten information adapted to be identified by the human eye. Each document is subjected to an operation involving the reading of the information contained thereon in two recurrent operating phases and an operation involving the recording of fresh data thereon. In the first phase, the pre-printed information is read by an automatic recognition device. During the second phase, the handwritten information is read visually and transcribed by an encoding device. Simultaneously therewith, fresh data is recorded on another document which was subjected to a reading operation in the course of the two next preceding operating phases.

Abstract: In order to provide for coherence of exchanges between a block of data of a ower speed level and several blocks of data of a contiguous level of higher speed, a control table of the block of the lower speed level registers page by page at least those blocks of the higher speed level which have received extracts from those pages; a control table of each of the blocks of the higher speed level registers by itself, page by page, the number of those extracts and also registers the validity of the data contained in its block, and preferably also the modifications of those data, and in certain cases the exclusion of access of other blocks of the higher speed level to those data; and an organization of the control of these data makes it possible to provide for the required coherence, starting with the information identified above.Applications: Information science systems with a hierarchy of memories.

Abstract: A system for controlling chopping for a converter in a DC electrical power supply.A transistor is arranged for chopping the DC input voltage which is connected to a chopping transformer. A control transistor controls the chopping transistor by means of pulses which it receives from a clock, via a pulse transformer.

Abstract: A method for storing a binary signal in a high speed flip-flop memory. The apparatus includes a clock signal selecting device connected to control a pair of memory elements in cascade. Data is introduced into the first memory element under the control of a first control signal from the clock signal selecting device and is transferred to the second memory element under the control of a second control signal from the clock signal selecting device. A single output of a clock pulse generator is applied via parallel lines, one of which includes a delay element, to a logic gate to provide spaced time pulses which are applied to the clock signal selecting device. The clock signal selecting device includes a pair of two input AND gates, each of which are connected to receive at one input the spaced time pulses and at the second input a clock signal selecting signal derived from the output of a JK flip-flop having its sync input connected to receive the spaced time pulses.

Abstract: A high capacity associative read/write memory is provided which includes storage means which can be read from or written into and having memory units of equal capacity each containing an equal and predetermined number of levels. Addressing means are coupled to the memory for addressing the data locations in the memory. A first comparator compares the content of the memory addressed (the data descriptor word) with the words read from the associative memory and a second comparator compares the content of the words read from the associative memory with the content of a descriptor containing the memory word to be invalidated. The number of comparators is equal to twice the number of memory levels multiplied by the number of memory units and is independent of the capacity of the memory. The outputs of the comparators are multiplexed to enable it to be used in the normal mode or in an associative mode.

Abstract: An arrangement for checking contact betweena transmitter circuit situated upstream and a receiver circuit situated downstream, the contact being made to enable electrical signals corresponding to 1 and 0 logic states produced by the transmitter circuit to be transmitted in series to an input of the receiver circuit, is characterized in that it is formed by a first circuit situated upstream of the contact at the output of the transmitter circuit and a second circuit which is situated downstream of the contact at the input to the receiver circuit, the first circuit being designed to produce, at a first output connected to the second circuit, and if the contact is satisfactory, a current in a predetermined direction or the opposite direction in the presence of a signal representing a 1 or 0 logic state emitted by the transmitter circuit, the second circuit being designed to generate, at an output connected to the input of the receiver circuit, a signal corresponding to the logic state generated by the transmitte

Abstract: Binary coded address information is written by a magnetic head on a magnetic recording medium, such as a disc, as a plurality of tracks, each having an address associated with it. Each track includes a reference zone containing a plurality of individual cells equal to the number of bits in the address. Each cell represents a binary value and includes two binary state transitions, each of which can occur at one of only two positions. One transition of each cell in each zone occurs at the same position within the cell, with adjacent zones having alternating positions of this transition. The other transition in the cells in each zone occurs at either position to represent the binary values.