Data communication system with terminal for displaying the coded stream

Abstract

A communication system is provided in which one data transmitting display terminal has the capability of transmitting a data stream in coded form to at least one data receiving terminal over a communication linkage. This data transmitting terminal further includes the capability of displaying, when necessary, the stream of coded data directly on its display so that if there is a transmission problem, the coded data itself can be analyzed in diagnosing the problem. The present communications system has the further capability of diagnosing data streams at remote display terminals. For example, if one transmitting terminal is communicating with a receiving terminal and a problem arises between the two terminals, the system provides the capability of the transmitting terminal sending the data stream to another receiving terminal remote from the first two terminals. This remote receiving terminal is a display terminal having the capability of displaying the received stream of coded data whereby the problems between the two communicating terminals may be diagnosed at a remote location where better engineering support may be available.