* Head title 1 Today's increasing abundance of dif- ferent types of com- puter terminals(1) bodes well for the satisfaction of the diverse needs and desires of computer terminal users.(2) __________ (1)See attached list. (2)Footnote... 9bo -1- 9* Head title 2 Before any new ter- minal can be con- nected to a computer system, however, an appropriate inter- face must exist. This interface, inevitably involving both system hardware and software, must cope with the terminal's speed, character set, line discipline, special features, lack of 9bo -2- 9* Head title 3 features, and other idiosyncrasies.(3) In many cases, the physical association of such an interface __________ (3)See reference (3) for a more complete description of terminal differences. 9bo -3- 9* Head title 4 with a terminal is dynamic; most general-purpose time-sharing systems are accessed via switched telephone lines. Although dedicating certain access lines to each terminal type is the simplest approach, economy dictates that as many termi- nal types as possi- ble be served by 9bo -4- 9* Head title 5 each group of dedi- cated lines. The greatest economy oc- curs when all termi- nals can use the same group of lines. If different termi- nal types are to use the same access lines, it is neces- sary for the system to be able to iden- tify the terminal type. This paper addresses the 9bo -5- 9* Head title 6 terminal-type iden- tification problem. TERMINAL PROPERTIES While it is the differences between types that brings about the need for identification, it is often these differences that permit identifica- tion. The proper- ties and abilities of terminals may be classified and exam- 9bo -6- 9* Head title 7 ined for their ef- fect on the necessi- ty for and the pos- sibility of type in- dentification. The concern here is with typewriter-like ter- minals employing asynchronous charac- ter communications. The first properties to be enumerated are fundamental ones; i. e, properties that cannot be ignored 9bo -7- 9* Head title 8 when communicating with the terminal. Character code and format. In addition to the character - bit-pattern rela- tionship, this includes(end) extra line 9bo -8- 9* Head title 9 another extra line. 9bo -9- 9