Data communication system

Claim 2

A data communication system comprising a plurality of terminal units each provided with an assigned address, wherein: a terminal unit, which has been given a communication right, is able to perform data communication with other terminal units and said communication right is transferred when a transfer command having an address defined according to a predetermined procedure is transferred from the terminal unit having the communication right to another terminal unit having said defined address; and a terminal unit, which joins the communication later and has a particular address different from the address assigned as a self address, is adapted to respond to a specific command having said particular address sent from the terminal unit having the communication right, and said terminal unit having the communication right identifies the later joining terminal unit upon detection of a response to the specific command.

Claim 3

A data communication system according to claim 1, wherein said later joining terminal unit changes the particular address to the assigned address after being identified.

Claim 4

A data communication system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal unit which has identified the later joining terminal unit informs the other terminal units of such fact.

Claim 5

A data communication system according to claim 1, wherein said terminal unit is adapted to remember the address of a terminal unit to which the communicating right is to be transferred, and clears the thus-remembered address in response to the detection of a terminal unit later joining in the system.

Claim 6

A data communication system comprising a plurality of terminal units each provided with an assigned address, wherein: a terminal unit, which has been given a communication right, is able to perform data communication with other terminal units; the terminal unit given the communication right functions as a master unit and is operative to search for and identify other terminal units with which the master unit is capable of data communication, to transfer the communication right to said identified terminal unit after completion of the data communication, and to store the address of said identified terminal unit so as to transfer the communication right to said identified terminal unit after one circulation of the communication right among said plurality of terminal units without said searching and identifying operation; and in the presence of a terminal unit joining in the system later, each terminal unit clears the stored address.

Claim 7

A data communication system comprising a plurality of terminal units each provided with an assigned address, wherein: a terminal unit, which has been given a communication right, is able to perform data communication with other terminal units; the terminal unit given the communication right functions as a master unit and is operative to search for and identify other terminal units with which the master unit is capable of data communication, to transfer the communication right to said identified terminal unit after completion of the data communication, and to store the address of said identified terminal unit so as to transfer the communication right to said identified terminal unit after one circulation of the communication right among said plurality of terminal units without said searching and identifying operation; and in the presence of a terminal unit joining in the system later, each terminal unit clears the stored address.

Claim 8

A data communication system according to claim 5, wherein the presence or absence of a terminal unit joining the system later is identified by the response to a transfer command having a particular address.

Claim 9

A data communication system according to claim 5, wherein the terminal unit having the communication right transfers the communicating right to a terminal unit of an address calculated from the address of first-mentioned terminal unit.

Claim 10

A data communication system according to claim 5, wherein each terminal unit is able to identify, if having the communication right, the presence of the later joining terminal unit, and the terminal unit which has identified the later joining terminal unit informs the other terminal units of such fact.

Claim 11

A data communication system according to claim 5, wherein, in the presence of the later-joining terminal unit, the terminal unit having the communication right is operative to transfer the communication right to a specified terminal unit provided with a predetermined one of the assigned addresses.