Importance

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Abstract

Linked game controllers coupled to a single input port of a computer game are configured such that all controllers may be active at the same time. One controller is coupled to an input port on the computer game which has both a parallel-bit interface and a bit-serial interface. This controller provides information on its own control function via the parallel interface and information derived from each of the linked controllers via the serial interface. Each of the controllers includes a flag bit, in the provided information, that indicates whether the controller is the last controller in the sequence of linked controllers. The computer game stores data values provided by the parallel interface and then shifts values provided by the serial interface into an internal register until one of the flag bits, indicating the last controller in the sequence, has been shifted. The shifted data is then separated into different control functions which are then provided to the computer game apparatus.

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First Claim