Abstract: A high resolution and high speed analog to digital converter for use with a transducer in measuring parameters such as weight, which may stay the same or which may change in the system, the converter having an integrator which integrates for a fixed period the output voltage from the transducer, and subsequently deintegrates a known reference voltage, the deintegration times varying depending upon the magnitude of the transducer output voltage which has been integrated, a comparator comparing the deintegration times of successive conversions and shortening the integration times for the transducer output so as to obtain more conversions per time period to provide a high speed readout when the transducer output is changing, but lengthening the integration times to provide a high resolution readout when the comparison of deintegration times does not reveal any change in the transducer output.

Abstract: A synchronous distributed measurement system in a digital computer network comprising a master node and a plurality of slave nodes interconnected by communications links to form a ring. The master mode includes a message transmitter for transmitting a synchronizing message over a communications link. Each slave node includes an operational portion for performing selected operations. A message receiver receiving the synchronizing message from a communications link, and a message transmitter responsive to receipt of the synchronizing message for retransmitting the synchronizing message over the communications link. An operational control portion starts the measurement portion a selected delay time after the message receiver receives the synchronizing message, the delay time providing that the operational portions of the slave nodes perform the measurements in synchronization.