Method of and means for routing binary messages through a multinode

Abstract

A digital-data-transmission system includes a network formed from a multiplicity of nodes each having at least three pairs of input/output terminals of which one is connected to an associated subscriber station while the others are connected to respective other nodes so as to enable a binary message from any subscriber station to reach all other subscriber stations. The nodes form a plurality of pathways, at least some of them of different lengths, between any two subscriber stations yet a decision circuit at each node selects only one input terminal thereof for retransmission of an incoming message to all the output terminals of the node, such selection being based on the order of arrival or--in the case of simultaneous arrival--on a predetermined order of preference. The several subscriber stations may be equipped with respective controllers establishing time slots individually allocated thereto in order to prevent the simultaneous emission of messages from two or more stations. Also disclosed is an ancillary network with a cluster of subscriber stations grouped about a central point where a common transformer (or a common reflector in the case of fiber-optical signal transmission) establishes communication between this cluster and one of the nodes of the main network.