A fault tolerant distributed intelligence control system (10) for sensing and control has fault tolerant fibre optic communication media (21,22,23) interconnecting a plurality of intelligent nodes (12,14,16,18,20). Each intelligent node comprises a digital control and communication processor (DCCP) (28) operating autonomously in relation to DCCPs at other nodes, and a transceiver (26) for interfacing with the communication media (21,22,23). The fibre optic communication media comprises bi-directional serial data buses (21,22,23). The combination provides a low cost highly reliable distributed control system particularly applicable to primary and secondary aircraft control systems, as well as to other vehicle and control systems. <IMAGE>
Fault tolerant distributed control system