[Al Skierkiewicz]

Sparks,
Many systems use a broadcast data stream with the ability to query and transmit coming from a host. One of the systems I am familiar with (an audio and video routing switcher) sends out sequential addressing and as each device's address comes up on the serial line, the device with that address sets a request to send bit. When the master asks, the device transmits it's data and then the host repeats it for all devices sitting on the line. (The serial line is called a "party line" since it is shared by all devices.) The data packet is relatively small so the system does not need to nave a high bandwidth. The party line is carried on a coax and can loop from device to device or just run all in parallel. The serial in/serial out function on the basic stamp is supposed to do this function very well.