Abstract

A closed unidirectional transmission loop has plural stations coupled thereto in series for transmitting time multiplexed signals in the form of addressed byte groups. For transmitting a byte group, a station delays at the end of the byte group passing on the loop the following byte groups and introduces the byte group to be transmitted into the space resulting from the introduction of the delay. As soon as a byte group that is being or has been received by its addressee arrives at the station, this station removes the delay, thereby eliminating the byte group and thereafter can send the next byte group. A monitor station in the loop provides the functions of generating a continuous byte stream circulating in the closed unidirectional transmission loop by sending filling byte groups if the loop is not fully charged during the time not occupied, synchronizing the byte stream by varying the cycle time for the loop to an entire multiple of the byte time, and eliminating mutilated byte groups that have made more than one cycle of the loop.