TI-H: A Virtual Hub: Interlink


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TI-H: A Virtual Hub: Interlink



I have had an idea for some time now.  I have described this link to many people, only with the success of confusing them.  I have included a picture that will, hopefully, explain my idea better than I can word it.  The picture should be in a standard 4bit GIF format.  Although, for some reason IE displays a green background, it is supposed to be white.  I chose to send it in this format because it was the smallest file.
 
For those of you who cannot view a standard 4bit GIF file for whatever reason, or if the file gets corrupted in sending, here is my best explaination in words.  I would like to have an interlinking graph cable with looks similar to that of TI's standard link that comes with every calc.  On each end of the Interlink is the familiar block with a male prong for insertion into a calc.  The Interlink would also have a female plug near where the cord comes out of the block.  If possible, the female plug would expand to accept either the TI male prong or a stereo plug to accomodate headphones.  Thus eliminating all the excess hardware currently required to listen to sound.
 
 II                                           II
 II                                           II
 II_____ __                           __ _____II
I      I I \            / /          / I I      I
I      I I  I----------I I----------I  I I      I
I______I_I_/          / /            \_I_I______I
 
(forgive me, as I am not an ASCII artist)
With the built-in female plug, it is possible to have a networked program with sound:
 
ICalc I to Sound
I    /  I  I
\___/   \  /
  II_____II_
 I          \
 I Link      I----------to other calc or to another Interlink
 I__________/
 
That is not a very good picture, again, but a sketch.  Using the Interlink, it is also possible to have four calcs connected simultaneously to one another, thus making multi-player games possible.  With the design of the Interlink, it is possible to connect many calcs together, as long as it is an even number.  I do not know if this is truly possible on the electronic side.  There will have to be a master Interlink, and it will assign ID's to the other Interlinks connected to it.  The programs that will use the Interlink will have special sound requests, so that the Interlink will recognise not to send it to the other Interlinks attached to it.
 
Sending and Recieving:
 
Crash Control:
When sending bits of data, the Interlink would send to all attached Interlinks, header information in front of the data containing the ID of the sending Interlink.  When recieving data, the Interlink would first look at the header, and ignore any data if the header had the same ID as it.
 
'Learning' Link:
When sending the data, the header would contain the ID of the recieving Interlink, and send only to that Interlink.  Nothing would be done to stop incoming data, thus taking less time than the Crash Control idea.
 
Let me know what you think of my idea on this particular hardware idea.  I don't care much for how it works, so feel free to change the specs.  Just as long as it has the following things, and I'll be a happy-camper:
 
1) Name: Interlink
2) Connection: be able to connect many calc to each other simultaneously
3) Sound: be able to route sound through the female port
4) Style/Design: must look like a regular TI-link
 
-Miles Raymond
 
P.S. Sorry my message is a little long... I get carried away.

GIF image


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