THE NAS-SYS MONITORS

by J. Haigh

SCAL KBD, DF 61

The keys of the keyboard are connected in an array of eight rows by seven columns (six columns in the case of the Nascom 1 keyboard). Each row of keys is connected to one output line of a chip known as a ‘BCD to Decimal Decoder/​Driver’. This chip accepts a four-bit binary pattern and if it represents a valid decimal digit (i.e., if it is in the range 0 – 9) it drives the corresponding output line to zero volts. Three of the input lines are taken from a binary counter, which merely counts a series of clocking pulses and outputs a corresponding binary number; the fourth bit is derived from the clocking pulse, in such a way that one of the eight lines used by the key rows is activated only for a short period after the clocking pulse has been received.

Each key is effectively a miniature transformer, the magnetic circuit of which is only complete when the key is depressed. Thus as a row is pulled to zero volts by the decoder/​driver, a pulse is output on by each key in that row which is down. The pulses are amplified and output to the data bus via a buffer which is only enabled when port 0 is read. Thus the circuitry produces a sequential scan of the keys and makes the information on which keys are pressed available to the processor. The clocking pulses which step the binary counter for the keyboard scan are produced under the control of SCAL KBD. The routine starts by ‘flipping’ bit 1 of port zero, that is, taking this bit to 1 for a short period, and then returning it to 0. This sends a pulse along the ‘Keyboard Reset’ line, which resets the binary counter to zero. The status of row 0 is then read, complemented so that keys pressed are represented by 1’s, and saved in the bottom byte of the KEYMAP region of the workspace (£0C01 – £0C09).

The routine now scans each row of the keyboard by flipping bit 0 of port 0 eight times. Each time bit 0 is flipped the next key row is selected; the routine then reads the status of the keys in that row, complements the result, and saves it temporarily in the D register. It then looks to see if it differs from the status obtain the last time the row was scanned, which is stored in the appropriate byte of KEYMAP. If there has been no change the routine continues to scan successive rows. After all the rows have been scanned the carry flag is reset and the routine is terminated.

If a change is detected, a short delay (approximately 2.7 msec at 4 mhz) is inserted and the status is re-read. This is designed to remove spurious inputs caused by key bounce. The value obtained on this second read is stored in the E register, and the first read is recovered from D; this value is ‘Exclusive ORed with the mapping