AN APL SHARED VARIABLE PROCESSOR IN A DISTRIBUTED REAL-TIME ENVIRONMENT

A hierarchical real-time computer system has been developed for laboratory automation purposes. It consists of microcomputers for data acquisition and control and a large mini for data processing. The control micros are connected to each other, the mini and an operator's terminal through a communication microprocessor. This latter is designed in accordance with the APL concept of Shared Variable Processor, taking into account the reliability and throughput considerations steming from the real-time and distributed nature of the system.