Abstract: System for establishing a TDM information protocol over a communications path includes a transmit section and a receive section. In general, the transmit element receives a succession of data elements from each of a plurality of independent channels and combines the data elements to form a single TDM sequence of data elements. The receive element receives a TDM sequence of data elements and separates the sequence into its constituent components to form a plurality of channels, each forming a succession of data elements. In one form of the invention, data elements transmitted via the TDM communications path are limited to a single time slot in the TDM protocol.