Process and apparatus for controlling a programmable controller with efficient identification of operation completion

Claim 1

A network comprising at least a programmable controller means and a plurality of processing units, said network being operative to transfer information between said programmable controller means and said plurality of processing units, said programmable controller means comprising: sequence program means for executing multiple data link instructions, arranged in blocks of at least two data link instructions, in order to transfer data between said programmable controller means and said processing units; memory means for storing at least execution information related to execution of each of said blocks of data link instructions and a corresponding single operation completion addressing instruction for each executed block of data link instructions, and operating means, responsive to said execution information stored in said memory means, for identifying a completion of execution of said block of data link instructions, wherein said memory means stores operating condition information in corresponding with each of said blocks of data link instructions comprises information identifying a state of the corresponding data link instruction, said states including idle, transmitting, receiving and complete.

Claim 7

The method of effecting data transfer within a network, comprising a programmable controller linked to plural processing units, said programmable controller comprising memory means for storing information for at least one block of data link instructions and a corresponding single operation completion flag address instruction for said at least one block, comprising the steps of: executing at least one block of related data link instructions and said corresponding operation completion flag address instruction; transferring data link instruction execution information to said memory means, said instruction execution information being representative of corresponding data link operations; determining if all operations corresponding to said block of related data link instructions are complete and, when complete, transferring a first operation completion flag address to said memory means for storage in correspondence with said related data link instructions; setting an operation completion flag in response to said stored execution information and said address instruction; determining whether a data link instruction is complete based on operating condition information that identifies a state of a corresponding data link instruction, said states including an idle state, a transmitting state, a receiving state, and a completion state; determining, when said data link operation is not complete, whether a next data link instruction exists; reading and transmitting said next data link instruction to a corresponding processing unit; and determining whether an operation completion flag address for said next data link instruction is identical to an operation completion flag address for said data link instruction that is not completed.

Claim 8

The method of effecting data transfer within a network, comprising a programmable controller linked to plural processing units, said programmable controller comprising memory means for storing information for at least one block of data link instructions and a corresponding single operation completion flag address instruction for said at least one block, comprising the steps of: executing at least one block of related data link instructions and said corresponding operation completion flag address instruction; transferring data link instruction execution information to said memory means, said instruction execution information being representative of corresponding data link operations; determining if all operations corresponding to said block of related data link instructions are complete and, when complete, transferring a first operation completion flag address to said memory means for storage in correspondence with said related data link instructions; setting an operation completion flag in response to said stored execution information and said address instruction; determining whether a data link instruction is complete based on operating condition information that identifies a state of a corresponding data link instruction, said states including an idle state, a transmitting state, a receiving state, and a completion state; determining, when said data link operation is not complete, whether a next data link instruction exists; reading and transmitting said next data link instruction to a corresponding processing unit; and determining whether an operation completion flag address for said next data link instruction is identical to an operation completion flag address for said data link instruction that is not completed.

Claim 9

The method of effecting data transfer within a network, comprising a programmable controller linked to plural processing units, said programmable controller comprising memory means for storing information for at least one block of data link instructions and a corresponding Single operation completion flag address instruction for said at least one block, comprising the steps of: executing at least one block of related data link instructions and said corresponding operation completion flag address instruction; transferring data link instruction execution information to said memory means, said instruction execution information being representative of corresponding data link operations; determining if all operations corresponding to said block of related data link instructions are complete and, when complete, transferring a first operation completion flag address to said memory means for storage in correspondence with said related data link instructions; setting an operation completion flag in response to said stored execution information and said address instruction; checking whether a next data link instruction is present; and setting the operation completion flag when a next data link instruction does not exist.

Claim 10

The method of effecting data transfer within a network, comprising a programmable controller linked to plural processing units, said programmable controller comprising memory means for storing information for at least one block of data link instructions and a corresponding Single operation completion flag address instruction for said at least one block, comprising the steps of: executing at least one block of related data link instructions and said corresponding operation completion flag address instruction; transferring data link instruction execution information to said memory means, said instruction execution information being representative of corresponding data link operations; determining if all operations corresponding to said block of related data link instructions are complete and, when complete, transferring a first operation completion flag address to said memory means for storage in correspondence with said related data link instructions; setting an operation completion flag in response to said stored execution information and said address instruction; checking whether a next data link instruction is present; and setting the operation completion flag when a next data link instruction does not exist.

Claim 12

The method of effecting data transfer within a network, comprising a programmable controller linked to plural processing units, said programmable controller comprising memory means for storing information for at least one block of data link instructions and a corresponding single operation completion flag address instruction for said at least one block, comprising the steps of: executing at least one block of related data link instructions and said corresponding operation completion flag address instruction; transferring data link instruction execution information to said memory means, said instruction execution information being representative of corresponding data link operations; determining if all operations corresponding to said block of related data link instructions are complete and, when complete, transferring a first operation completion flag address to said memory means for storage in correspondence with said related data link instructions; setting an operation completion flag in response to said stored execution information and said address instruction; and setting the operation completion flag address, when an operation completion address for previous and next data link instructions are not identical.

Claim 13

The method of effecting data transfer within a network, comprising a programmable controller linked to plural processing units, said programmable controller comprising memory means for storing information for at least one block of data link instructions and a corresponding single operation completion flag address instruction for said at least one block, comprising the steps of: executing at least one block of related data link instructions and said corresponding operation completion flag address instruction; transferring data link instruction execution information to said memory means, said instruction execution information being representative of corresponding data link operations; determining if all operations corresponding to said block of related data link instructions are complete and, when complete, transferring a first operation completion flag address to said memory means for storage in correspondence with said related data link instructions; setting an operation completion flag in response to said stored execution information and said address instruction; and setting the operation completion flag address, when an operation completion address for previous and next data link instructions are not identical.