Environment sensing/control circuit

Claim 2

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of changes to a processor, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; and b. an output buffer means coupled to the output of the interrupt memory for providing access to the contents of the interrupt memory by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the interrupt memory from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the interrupt memory.

Claim 3

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of changes to a processor, the environment sensing control circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; c. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and d. an output buffer means coupled to the output of the reference memory for providing access to the contents of the reference memory by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the reference memory from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the reference memory.

Claim 4

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of changes to a processor, the environment sensing control circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; c. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and d. an output buffer means coupled to the output of the reference memory for providing access to the contents of the reference memory by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the reference memory from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the reference memory.

Claim 5

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of changes to a processor, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; c. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and d. a programmable switching means for preventing the difference detector from making a created exception signal accessible to the processor and from storing the created exception signal in the interrupt memory.

Claim 6

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of changes to a processor, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; c. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and d. a programmable switching means for preventing the difference detector from making a created exception signal accessible to the processor and from storing the created exception signal in the interrupt memory.

Claim 7

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 3, further comprising an interrupt disable memory means for storing a signal determinative of whether the programmable switching means will prevent the difference detecting means from making accessible to the processor, a created exception signal and from storing the exception signal in the interrupt memory.

Claim 8

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 4, further comprising an output buffer means coupled to the output of the interrupt disable memory means for providing access to the contents of the interrupt disable memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the interrupt disable memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the interrupt disable memory means.

Claim 9

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of changes to a processor, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. summing means for creating an interrupt signal, the interrupt signal indicating that any one or more of a plurality of environmental conditions has changed; c. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; and d. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; wherein the output of the summing means is applied to the interrupt memory for determining when the interrupt memory is to store the exception signal created by the difference detector.

Claim 10

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of changes to a processor, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. summing means for creating an interrupt signal, the interrupt signal indicating that any one or more of a plurality of environmental conditions has changed; c. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; and d. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; wherein the output of the summing means is applied to the interrupt memory for determining when the interrupt memory is to store the exception signal created by the difference detector.

Claim 11

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of changes to a processor, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; and b. a programmable inversion means for selectively inverting the signal representing the environmental condition, the programmable inversion means being coupled to an environmental condition interrupt connection of the environment sensing/control circuit.

Claim 12

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of changes to a processor, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; and b. a programmable inversion means for selectively inverting the signal representing the environmental condition, the programmable inversion means being coupled to an environmental condition interrupt connection of the environment sensing/control circuit.

Claim 13

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 7, further comprising an input polarity memory means for storing a signal which is determinative of whether the programmable inversion means will invert the signal representing the environmental condition, the input polarity memory means being coupled to the input of the programmable inversion means.

Claim 14

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 8, further comprising an output buffer means coupled to the output of the input polarity memory means for providing access to the contents of the input polarity memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the input polarity memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or over-loading from occurring on the output of the input polarity memory means.

Claim 15

An environment sensing/control circuit for receiving a first signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: a. a programmable inversion means for inverting the first signal prior to transmission of the first signal to the subsystem; b. a control memory means for storing the first signal transmitted from the processor; and c. an output polarity memory means for storing a second signal received by the environment sensing/control circuit from the processor, the second signal being determinative of whether the programmable inversion means will invert the first signal received by the environment sensing/control circuit from the processor.

Claim 16

An environment sensing/control circuit for receiving a first signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: a. a programmable inversion means for inverting the first signal prior to transmission of the first signal to the subsystem; b. a control memory means for storing the first signal transmitted from the processor; and c. an output polarity memory means for storing a second signal received by the environment sensing/control circuit from the processor, the second signal being determinative of whether the programmable inversion means will invert the first signal received by the environment sensing/control circuit from the processor.

Claim 17

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 10, further comprising: a. a first output buffer means coupled to the output of the control memory means for providing access to the contents of the control memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the control memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the control memory means; and b. a second output buffer means coupled to the output of the output polarity memory means for providing to the processor, access to the contents of the output polarity memory means, while electrically isolating the output of the output polarity memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the output polarity memory means.

Claim 18

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 10, further comprising an output buffer with adjustable output impedance, the output of the buffer being coupled to a control output connection of the environment sensing/control circuit for selectively increasing and decreasing the output impedance at the control output connection of the environment sensing/control circuit.

Claim 19

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; and c. an output buffer coupled to the output of the interrupt memory for providing access to the contents of the interrupt memory by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the interrupt memory from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the interrupt memory.

Claim 20

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; and c. an output buffer coupled to the output of the interrupt memory for providing access to the contents of the interrupt memory by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the interrupt memory from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the interrupt memory.

Claim 21

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; c. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; d. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and e. an output buffer, coupled to the output of the reference memory, for providing access to the contents of the reference memory by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the reference memory from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the reference memory.

Claim 22

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; c. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; d. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and e. an output buffer, coupled to the output of the reference memory, for providing access to the contents of the reference memory by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the reference memory from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the reference memory.

Claim 23

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; c. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; b. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and c. a programmable switch for preventing the difference detector from making a created exception signal accessible to the processor and from storing the created exception signal in the interrupt memory.

Claim 24

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; c. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; b. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and c. a programmable switch for preventing the difference detector from making a created exception signal accessible to the processor and from storing the created exception signal in the interrupt memory.

Claim 25

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 15, further comprising an interrupt disable memory means for storing a signal determinative of whether the programmable switch means will prevent the difference detecting means from making accessible to the processor, a created exception signal and from storing the exception signal in the interrupt memory means.

Claim 26

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 16, further comprising an output buffer means coupled to the output of the interrupt disable memory means for providing access to the contents of the interrupt disable memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the interrupt disable memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the interrupt disable memory means.

Claim 27

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable invertor for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; c. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; d. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and e. summing means for creating an interrupt signal, the interrupt signal indicating that any one or more of a plurality of environmental conditions has changed; wherein the output of the summing means is applied to the interrupt memory for determining when the interrupt memory is to store the exception signal created by the difference detecting means.

Claim 28

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable invertor for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; c. a reference memory for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; d. a difference detector for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory and the environmental condition; and e. summing means for creating an interrupt signal, the interrupt signal indicating that any one or more of a plurality of environmental conditions has changed; wherein the output of the summing means is applied to the interrupt memory for determining when the interrupt memory is to store the exception signal created by the difference detecting means.

Claim 29

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; and c. a programmable switch for preventing access to the processor of the detected changes in the environmental condition when the access has not been initiated by the processor, and for preventing storage of the detected changes in the interrupt memory.

Claim 30

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; and c. a programmable switch for preventing access to the processor of the detected changes in the environmental condition when the access has not been initiated by the processor, and for preventing storage of the detected changes in the interrupt memory.

Claim 31

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 19, further comprising an interrupt disable memory means for storing a signal determinative of whether the programmable switching means will prevent uninitiated access to the processor of the detected changes in the environmental condition and storing of the detected changes in the interrupt memory means.

Claim 32

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 20, further comprising an output buffer means coupled to the output of the interrupt disable memory means for providing access to the contents of the interrupt disable memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the interrupt disable memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the interrupt disable memory means.

Claim 33

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a first programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; and c. a second programmable inverter for selectively inverting the signal representing the environmental condition, the second programmable inverter being coupled to an environmental condition input connection of the environment sensing/control circuit.

Claim 34

An environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment/sensing circuit comprising: a. an interrupt memory, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing a flag indicative of detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory being accessible to the processor; b. a first programmable inverter for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; and c. a second programmable inverter for selectively inverting the signal representing the environmental condition, the second programmable inverter being coupled to an environmental condition input connection of the environment sensing/control circuit.

Claim 35

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 22, further comprising an input polarity memory means for storing a signal which is determinative of whether the programmable inversion means will invert the signal representing the environmental condition, the input polarity memory means being coupled to an input of the programmable inversion means.

Claim 36

The environment sensing/control circuit of claim 23, further comprising an output buffer means coupled to the output of the input polarity memory means for providing access to the contents of the input polarity memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the input polarity memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or over-loading from occurring on the output of the input polarity memory means.

Claim 37

A two-mode environment sensing/control system for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and storing the signal in the electronic subsystem, the environment sensing/control system comprising: a. an environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of the electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in the sensing mode and for receiving a signal from the processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: (1) a single electrical connection means for electrically interfacing the environment sensing/control circuit to a subsystem and conducting a condition signal from the subsystem to the environment sensing/control circuit when the environment sensing/control circuit is used in the sense mode and for conducting a control signal from the environment sensing/control circuit to the subsystem when the environment sensing/control circuit is used in a control mode; (2) an output buffer means coupled to the single electrical connection for selectively increasing and decreasing the output impedance at the single electrical connection; (3) an interrupt memory means, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory means being accessible to the processor; (4) a programmable inversion means for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; and b. an electronic subsystem coupled to the environment sensing/control circuit via the single electrical connection means for storing the signal received by the environment sensing/control circuit and for transmitting environmental condition signals to the environment sensing/control circuit, the electronic subsystem comprising: (1) input memory means for storing the environmental condition signals; and (2) tri-statable drivers coupled to the outputs of the subsystem for selectively increasing and decreasing the output impedance at subsystem outputs.

Claim 38

A two-mode environment sensing/control system for detecting changes in the environment of an electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in a sensing mode and for receiving a signal from a processor and storing the signal in the electronic subsystem, the environment sensing/control system comprising: a. an environment sensing/control circuit for detecting changes in the environment of the electronic subsystem and transmitting indications of the changes to a processor when used in the sensing mode and for receiving a signal from the processor and transmitting the signal to a subsystem when used in a control mode, the environment sensing/control circuit comprising: (1) a single electrical connection means for electrically interfacing the environment sensing/control circuit to a subsystem and conducting a condition signal from the subsystem to the environment sensing/control circuit when the environment sensing/control circuit is used in the sense mode and for conducting a control signal from the environment sensing/control circuit to the subsystem when the environment sensing/control circuit is used in a control mode; (2) an output buffer means coupled to the single electrical connection for selectively increasing and decreasing the output impedance at the single electrical connection; (3) an interrupt memory means, dedicated to an environmental condition in which changes are to be detected, for storing detected changes in the environmental condition, the contents of the interrupt memory means being accessible to the processor; (4) a programmable inversion means for inverting the signal prior to transmission of the signal to the subsystem; and b. an electronic subsystem coupled to the environment sensing/control circuit via the single electrical connection means for storing the signal received by the environment sensing/control circuit and for transmitting environmental condition signals to the environment sensing/control circuit, the electronic subsystem comprising: (1) input memory means for storing the environmental condition signals; and (2) tri-statable drivers coupled to the outputs of the subsystem for selectively increasing and decreasing the output impedance at subsystem outputs.

Claim 39

The environment sensing/control system of claim 25, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprising an output buffer means coupled to the output of the interrupt memory means for providing access to the contents of the interrupt memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the interrupt memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the interrupt memory means.

Claim 40

The environment sensing/control system of claim 25, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprises: a. a reference memory means for storing a reference state, the reference state being programmed by the processor; and b. a difference detecting means for creating an exception signal when a difference exists between the contents of the reference memory means and the environmental condition; wherein the exception signal created by the difference detecting means is stored in the interrupt memory means.

Claim 41

The environment sensing/control system of claim 27, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprises an output buffer means coupled to output of the reference memory means for providing access to the contents of the reference memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the reference memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the reference memory means.

Claim 42

The environment sensing/control system of claim 27, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprises a programmable switching means for preventing the difference detecting means from making accessible to the processor, a created exception signal and from storing the created exception signal in the interrupt memory means.

Claim 43

The environment sensing/control system of claim 29, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprises an interrupt disable memory means for storing a signal determinative of whether the programmable switch means will prevent the difference detecting means from making accessible to the processor, a created exception signal and from storing the exception signal in the interrupt memory means.

Claim 44

The environment sensing/control system of claim 30, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprises an output buffer means coupled to the output of the interrupt disable memory means for providing access to the contents of the interrupt disable memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the interrupt disable memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the interrupt disable memory means.

Claim 45

The environment sensing/control system of claim 25, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprises a summing means for creating an interrupt signal, the interrupt signal indicating that any one or more of a plurality of environmental conditions has changed.

Claim 46

The environment sensing/control system of claim 32, wherein the output of the summing means is applied to the interrupt memory means for determining when the interrupt memory means is to store the exception signal created by the difference detecting means.

Claim 47

The environment sensing/control system of claim 25, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprises a programmable inversion means for selectively inverting the signal representing the environmental condition, the programmable inversion means being coupled to the environmental condition input connection of the environment sensing/control circuit.

Claim 48

The environment sensing/control system of claim 34, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprises an input polarity memory means for storing a signal which is determinative of whether the programmable inversion means will invert the signal representing the environmental condition, the input polarity memory means being coupled to the input of the programmable inversion means.

Claim 49

The environment sensing/control system of claim 35, wherein the environment sensing/control circuit further comprises an output buffer means coupled to the output of the input polarity memory means for providing access to the contents of the input polarity memory means by the processor while electrically isolating the output of the input polarity memory means from the processor to prevent disturbances or overloading from occurring on the output of the input polarity memory means.