Data system incorporating method and apparatus for referencing media locations

Claim 3

reversely counting character locations encountered up to said one character location in step F during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 4

reversely counting character locations encountered up to said one character location in step F during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 5

reversely counting character locations encountered back to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 6

reversely counting character locations encountered back to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 7

reversely counting media locations encountered up to said one location in step D during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and the number of locations encountered past said one location including at least said predetermined number of locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of opposite relative movement in step E.

Claim 8

reversely counting media locations encountered up to said one location in step D during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and the number of locations encountered past said one location including at least said predetermined number of locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of opposite relative movement in step E.

Claim 9

The method of claim 1, wherein: the relative movements, deceleration and acceleration of said media are performed in a media transport unit interconnected with a data processor, and wherein initiation of relative movement to scan said media in said first direction during a transducing operation at step A and termination of the transducing operation at step B occur in response to commands emanating from said processor.

Claim 10

reversely counting character locations encountered up to said one character location in step D during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 11

reversely counting character locations encountered up to said one character location in step D during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 12

reversely counting media locations encountered back to said one location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 13

reversely counting media locations encountered back to said one location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 14

reversely counting character locations encountered up to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 15

reversely counting character locations encountered up to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 16

reversely counting character locations encountered back to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 17

reversely counting character locations encountered back to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 18

reversely counting character locations encountered back to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 19

reversely counting character locations encountered back to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 20

reversely counting media locations encountered back to said one location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and the number of locations encountered past said one location including at least said predetermined number of locations and any additional locations encountEred prior to deceleration and termination of opposite relative movement.

Claim 21

reversely counting media locations encountered back to said one location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and the number of locations encountered past said one location including at least said predetermined number of locations and any additional locations encountEred prior to deceleration and termination of opposite relative movement.

Claim 22

reversely counting character locations encountered back to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 23

reversely counting character locations encountered back to said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction; and

Claim 24

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least saId predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 25

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least saId predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 26

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 27

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 28

counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 29

counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 30

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 31

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 32

forwardly counting the number of locations encountered past said one location including at least said predetermined number of locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 33

forwardly counting the number of locations encountered past said one location including at least said predetermined number of locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 34

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of opposite relative movement in step E.

Claim 35

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of opposite relative movement in step E.

Claim 36

The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: G. accelerating and relatively moving said media and said scanning means to again scan said media in said first direction; H. counting media locations encountered up to said one location; and I. recognizing a preselected count status indicative of reaching said one location to initiate a transducing operation wiTh respect to said one location and subsequent locations.

Claim 37

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 38

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of scanning of said media in the opposite direction.

Claim 39

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of opposite relative movement in step G.

Claim 40

forwardly counting the number of character locations encountered past said one character location during scanning of said media in the opposite direction including at least said predetermined number of character locations and any additional locations encountered prior to deceleration and termination of opposite relative movement in step G.

Claim 41

The method of claim 3, wherein: the relative movements, deceleration and acceleration of said media are performed in a media transport unit interconnected with a data processor, and wherein initiation of relative movement to scan said media during a transducing operation in said first direction at steps A and G and termination of the transducing operation at step B occur in response to commands emanating from said processor.

Claim 44

The method of claim 5 further comprising the steps of: G. accelerating and relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to again scan said media in said first direction; H. reversely counting character locations encountered up to said one character location; and I. recognizing a preselected count status indicative of reaching said one character location to initiate a transducing operation with respect to said one character location and subsequent character locations.

Claim 47

The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of: I. issuing an additional command from said processor; J. responding to said additional command to accelerate and relatively move said tape read media and said scanning means to again scan said media in said first direction; K. reversely counting character locations encountered up to said one character location; and L. recognizing a preselected count status indicative of reaching said one character location to again initiate reading of said one character location and subsequent character locations.

Claim 48

The method of claim 8, wherein: said first command and said additional commands are Read commands initiating normal reading of characters in said first direction.

Claim 49

The method of claim 8, wherein: said first and additional commands are Write-Backspace commands initiating a pseudowrite operation to effect scanning of said media in said first direction a selected number of character locations determined by said processor.

Claim 50

The method of claim 7, wherein: said command is a Read command.

Claim 51

The method of claim 7, wherein: said command is a Write-Backspace command.

Claim 52

The method of claim 7, wherein: said condition in step D is an error condition in transferred characters sensed by said processor.

Claim 53

The method of claim 7, wherein: said condition in step D is a change in commands issued by said processor.

Claim 54

The method of claim 7, wherein: said condition in step D is nonacceptance of characters by said processor.

Claim 55

The method of claim 15, wherein: nonacceptance of characters by said processor is recognized internally in said tape unit by checking of the status of character registers connected in the transfer path

Claim 56

Apparatus for referencing a media location on a media having a plurality of discrete locations and repositioning said media, comprising: scanning means; means initiating a reading operation by relatively moving said media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in a first direction; means for terminating said reading operation at one of said locations; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said media and said scanning means at a location beyond said one location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of locations past said one location establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said media and said scanning means; counting means; and control means for operating said counting means to reference said one location by:

Claim 57

Apparatus for referencing a media location on a media having a plurality of discrete locations and repositioning said media, comprising: scanning means; means initiating a reading operation by relatively moving said media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in a first direction; means for terminating said reading operation at one of said locations; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said media and said scanning means at a location beyond said one location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of locations past said one location establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said media and said scanning means; counting means; and control means for operating said counting means to reference said one location by:

Claim 58

The apparatus of claim 17, wherein: said apparatus comprises a media transport unit interconnected with a data processor, and wherein initiation of said reading operation by relative movement of said media and said scanning means to scan said media in said first direction and termination of said reading operation occur in response to commands emanating from said processor.

Claim 59

The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising: means in said first direction moving means that is further operable to accelerate and relatively move said media and said scanning means to again scan locations on said media in said first direction; means in said control means for operating said counting means to count media locations encountered up to said one location; and means in said control means for recognizing preselected a count status indicative of reaching said one location to initiate reading of said one location and subsequent locations.

Claim 60

The apparatus of claim 19, wherein: said apparatus comprises a media transport unit interconnected with a data processor, and wherein initiation of reading of said media in said first direction both prior to and subsequent to a repositioning operation occurs in response to commands emanating from said processor.

Claim 61

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete locations and repositioning said media, comprising: scanning means; means for initiating a reading operation by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan character locations on said media in a first direction; means for terminating said reading operation at one of said character locations; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; counting means; and control means for operating said counting means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 62

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete locations and repositioning said media, comprising: scanning means; means for initiating a reading operation by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan character locations on said media in a first direction; means for terminating said reading operation at one of said character locations; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; counting means; and control means for operating said counting means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 63

The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising: means in said first direction moving means that is further operable to accelerate said tape record media and said scanning means again in said first direction; means in said control means for operating said counting means to reversely count character locations encountered up to said one character location; and means in said control means for recognizing a preselected count status indicative of reaching said one character location to initiate reading of said one character location and subsequent character locations.

Claim 64

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete character locations and mounted for driving and scanning movement in a tape unit interconnected with a central processor, compriSing: means in said processor for issuing a read command; means responding to said read command to initiate a reading operation by relatively moving said tape record media and a scanning means to read character locations on said media in a first direction; means to supply characters to said processor as they are read; means for terminating the reading operation at one of said character locations in response to a status condition; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; counting means; and control means for operating said counting means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 65

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete character locations and mounted for driving and scanning movement in a tape unit interconnected with a central processor, compriSing: means in said processor for issuing a read command; means responding to said read command to initiate a reading operation by relatively moving said tape record media and a scanning means to read character locations on said media in a first direction; means to supply characters to said processor as they are read; means for terminating the reading operation at one of said character locations in response to a status condition; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; counting means; and control means for operating said counting means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 66

The apparatus of claim 23, wherein: said command is a Pseudo-Write command to which said apparatus responds essentially as a read command.

Claim 67

The apparatus of claim 23, wherein: said status condition is an error condition in transferred characters sensed by said processor.

Claim 68

The apparatus of claim 23, wherein: said condition is a change in commands issued by said processor.

Claim 69

The apparatus of claim 23, wherein: said status condition is nonacceptance of characters by said processor.

Claim 70

The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising: means in said tape unit for recognizing nonacceptance of characters by said processor by checking of the status of character registers connected in the transfer path.

Claim 71

The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising: means in said processor command means for issuing an additional command; means in said first direction moving means responsive to said additional command to relatively move said tape record media and said scanning means to again scan locations on said media in said first direction; means in said control means for operating said counting means to reversely count character locations encountered back to said one character location; and means in said control means for recognizing a preselected count status indicative of reaching said one character location to again initiate reading of said one character location and subsequent character locations.

Claim 72

The apparatus of claim 29, wherein: said first and additional commands are Write-Backspace commands initiating a pseudowrite operation to effect scanning of said media in said first direction a selected number of character locations as determined by said processor.

Claim 73

The apparatus of claim 29, wherein: said first command and said additional command are Read commands initiating normal reading of characters by scanning character locations on said media in said first direction.

Claim 74

Apparatus for referencing a media location on a media having a plurality of discrete locations and repositioning said media, comprising: scanning means; means for Initiating a transducing operation by relatively moving said media and said scanning mean to scan locations on said media in a first direction; means for terminating said transducing operation at one of said locations; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said media and said scanning means at a location beyond said one location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of locations past said one location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said media and said scanning means; timing means coupled to said relative moving means for indicating the passage of individual locations on said media past said scanning means; counting means; and control means responsive to said timing means for operating said counting means to reference said one location by:

Claim 75

Apparatus for referencing a media location on a media having a plurality of discrete locations and repositioning said media, comprising: scanning means; means for Initiating a transducing operation by relatively moving said media and said scanning mean to scan locations on said media in a first direction; means for terminating said transducing operation at one of said locations; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said media and said scanning means at a location beyond said one location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of locations past said one location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said media and said scanning means; timing means coupled to said relative moving means for indicating the passage of individual locations on said media past said scanning means; counting means; and control means responsive to said timing means for operating said counting means to reference said one location by:

Claim 76

The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising: means in said first direction moving means that is further operable to accelerate and relatively move said media and said scanning means to again scan locations on said media in said first direction; means in said control means that is further responsive to said timing means to operate said counting means to reversely count media locations encountered up to said one location; and means in said control means for recognizing a preselected count status indicative of reaching said one location to initiate transducing of said one location and subsequent locations.

Claim 77

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete locations and repositioning said media, comprising: scanning means; means for initiating a transducing operation by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan character locations on said media in a first direction; means for terminating the transducing operation at one of said character locations; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan character locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; timing means coupled to said relative moving means, said timing means including in one to one correspondence with character locations on a media, individual timing indicia arranged in a coded format indicative of the direction of movement of said media; direction memory means responsive to said indicia for storing representations of the same as they are encountered during movement of said media and said timing means, to thereby provide an indication of the direction of movement of said media; counting means; and control means responsive to said direction memory means and said timing means for operating said counting means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 78

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete locations and repositioning said media, comprising: scanning means; means for initiating a transducing operation by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan character locations on said media in a first direction; means for terminating the transducing operation at one of said character locations; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan character locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; timing means coupled to said relative moving means, said timing means including in one to one correspondence with character locations on a media, individual timing indicia arranged in a coded format indicative of the direction of movement of said media; direction memory means responsive to said indicia for storing representations of the same as they are encountered during movement of said media and said timing means, to thereby provide an indication of the direction of movement of said media; counting means; and control means responsive to said direction memory means and said timing means for operating said counting means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 79

The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising: means in said first direction moving means that is further operable to accelerate said tape record media and said scanning means to again scan locations on said media in said first direction; means in said control means that is further responsive to said timing means to operate said counting means to reversely count character locations encountered up to said one character location; and means in said control means for recognizing a preselected count status indicative of reaching said one character location to initiate transducing of said one character location and subsequent character locations.

Claim 80

The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising: logical circuitry associated with said counting means and responsive to signals from said direction memory means, said timing means and said control means to provide incrementing and decrementing signals to operate said counting means.

Claim 81

The apparatus of claim 36, further comprising: indicia means in said timing means arranged for recognition as 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, etc.... in one direction of scanning of said media and as 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, etc.... in an opposite direction of scanning of said media.

Claim 82

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete character locations and mounted for driving and scanning movement in a tape unit interconnected with a central processor, comprising: means in said processor for issuing a read command; means responding to said read command to initiate a reading operation by relatively moving said tape record media and a scanning means to read character locations on said media in a first direction; a first data register; a second data register; means interconnecting said scanning means, said first and second registers and said processor in that sequence for the transfer of characters as they are encountered during said reading operation; means for terminating said reading operation at one of said character locations in response to a status condition; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; counting means; and control means for operating said counting means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 83

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete character locations and mounted for driving and scanning movement in a tape unit interconnected with a central processor, comprising: means in said processor for issuing a read command; means responding to said read command to initiate a reading operation by relatively moving said tape record media and a scanning means to read character locations on said media in a first direction; a first data register; a second data register; means interconnecting said scanning means, said first and second registers and said processor in that sequence for the transfer of characters as they are encountered during said reading operation; means for terminating said reading operation at one of said character locations in response to a status condition; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan locations on said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; counting means; and control means for operating said counting means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 84

The apparatus of claim 38, further comprising: overrun means settable for initiating said repositioning procedure; and means responsive to recognition of a full status of said registers, an error, or a change in command from said processor for setting said overrun means.

Claim 85

The apparatus of claim 38, further comprising: register status means for indicating the empty and full condition of said registers, and overrun means responsive to a full indication from said register status means for terminating said reading operation and initiating said repositioning procedures.

Claim 86

The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising: means to render said overrun means ineffective if a said register becomes available to store data prior to actual control initiation of an overrun and repositioning operation.

Claim 87

The apparatus of claim 38, further comprising: means in said processor command means for issuing an additional command; means in said first direction moving means responsive to said additional command to relatively move said media and said scanning means to again scan locations on said media in said direction; means in said control means for operating said counting means to reversely count character locations encountered back to said one character location; and means in said control means for recognizing a preselected count status indicative of reading said one character location to again initiate reading of said one character location and subsequent character locations.

Claim 88

The apparatus of claim 42, further comprising: overrun means settable for initiating said repositioning procedure and resettable following a repositioning operation; and means responsive to a full status of said registers or reading of a predetermined character from said media for setting said overrun means; and first reset means operative following a repositioning operation and responsive to receipt of a read command as said additional command to reset said overrun means; means controlled by said first set means to initiate relative driving movement in a forwardly direction along said media corresponding to said first direction; second reset means responsive to receipt of a Pseudo-Write command as said additional command to reset said overrun means; means controlled by said second reset means to initiate relative driving movement reversely along said media; and third reset means operative upon termination of either of said commands or receipt of an unload command to reset said overrun means and to condition said apparatus to a standby status.

Claim 89

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete character locations and mounted for driving and scanning movement in a tape predetermined interconnected with a central processor, comprising: means in said processor for issuing a read command; means responding to said read command to initiate a reading operation by relatively moving said tape record media and a scanning means to read character locations on said media in a first direction; a first data register; a second data register; means interconnecting said scanning means, said first and second registers and said processor in that sequence for the transfer of characters as they are encountered during said reading operation; means for terminating the said reading operation at one of said character locations in response to a status condition; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan locations on Said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; timing means coupled to said relative moving means, said timing means including in one to one correspondence with character locations on a media individual timing indicia arranged in a coded format indicative of the direction of movement of said media; direction memory means responsive to said indicia for storing representations of the same as they are encountered during movement of said media and said timing means, to thereby provide an indication of the direction of movement of said media; counting means; and control means responsive to said direction memory means and said timing means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 90

Apparatus for referencing a character location on a tape record media having a plurality of discrete character locations and mounted for driving and scanning movement in a tape predetermined interconnected with a central processor, comprising: means in said processor for issuing a read command; means responding to said read command to initiate a reading operation by relatively moving said tape record media and a scanning means to read character locations on said media in a first direction; a first data register; a second data register; means interconnecting said scanning means, said first and second registers and said processor in that sequence for the transfer of characters as they are encountered during said reading operation; means for terminating the said reading operation at one of said character locations in response to a status condition; means for decelerating and terminating relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means at a character location beyond said one character location; means for repositioning said media by relatively moving said tape record media and said scanning means to scan locations on Said media in the opposite direction at least a predetermined number of character locations past said one character location to establish an acceleration zone; means for decelerating and terminating said opposite relative movement of said tape record media and said scanning means; timing means coupled to said relative moving means, said timing means including in one to one correspondence with character locations on a media individual timing indicia arranged in a coded format indicative of the direction of movement of said media; direction memory means responsive to said indicia for storing representations of the same as they are encountered during movement of said media and said timing means, to thereby provide an indication of the direction of movement of said media; counting means; and control means responsive to said direction memory means and said timing means to reference said one character location by:

Claim 91

The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising: logical circuitry associated with said counting means and responsive to signals from said direction memory means, said timing means and said control means to provide incrementing and decrementing signals to operate said counting means.

Claim 92

The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising: means for rendering said counting means free-running prior to a scan termination; means to reset said counting means; and means in said control means to initiate counting by said counting means.

Claim 93

The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising: means in said first direction moving means that is further operable to accelerate said tape record media and said scanning means to again scan locations on said media in said first direction; means in said control means that is further responsive to said timing means to operate said counting means to reversely count character locations encountered up to said one character location; and means in said control means for recognizing a preselected count status indicative of reaching said one character location to initiate reading of said one character location and subsequent character locations.

Claim 94

The apparatus of claim 47, further comprising: means in said processor to provide a read command to initiate a read operation by establishing scanning of said media in a preferred direction and a Pseudo-Write command establishing scanning of said media in a direction opposite to said preferred direction, with the repositioning operation occurring in conversely opposite directions in each respective case; and means in said control means for recognizing a count of ''''1'''' in said counting means in a repositioning operation following a read command and a count of ''''3'''' in a repositioning operation following a Pseudo-Write command to select the required one character thereby compensating for the inclusion of the two data registers in the data transfer path.

Claim 95

The apparatus of claim 48, further comprising: latch control means, including a Forward Stop latch, a Reverse latch, a Reverse Stop latch and a Forward latch; set-reset means activated during a repositioning operation following a Read command to set and reset said latches in the order named; and means controlled by said latch conTrol means to operate said relative moving means and said counting control means in the sequence named to reposition said media.

Claim 96

The apparatus of claim 49, further comprising: means in said set-reset means for operating said latch control means during a repositioning operation following a Pseudo-Write command to set and reset said latches in the sequence Reverse Stop, Forward, Forward Stop, and Reverse; and means in said means controlled by said latch means for operating said relative moving means and said counting means in that sequence to reposition said media.