PC-BASED MEASUREMENT AND

CONTROL

CHAPTER 1: INTERFACE CIRCUITS

AN INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS
PhD. NGUYỄN HOÀNG GIÁP
Outline

➢ Interfacing of hardware systems

➢ Categorization
➢ Parallel and serial interfaces
➢ Synchronous and asynchronous interfaces
Interfacing of digital systems
Computer interfaces

➢ Ports:
✓ RS-232
✓ Printer (SPP, EPP, ECP)
✓ use
➢ Buses
✓ PCI
✓ AGP
✓ SCSI
✓ ...
➢ Network
✓ Ethernet, WiFi
Embedded systems interfacing

➢ Embedded interfaces
✓ UART, SPI, I2C
✓ Industrial buses: FieldBus,
ProfiBus,
✓ Automotive buses: LIN, CAN,
FlexRay
On-board interfaces

➢ Several components need to communicate and

exchange data
✓ Programmable devices (FPGAs)
✓ Embedded processors (ARM, AVR,...)
✓ Memory chips (EEPROM, FLASH,...)
✓ On-board I/O (LCD screen, 7-segs,...)
✓ Controller chips (Ethernet controller,...)
On-Chip interfaces (interconnects)

➢ A System-on-Chip (SoC) contains several components in a

single chip
✓ Processors, memory, FPGA, interface controllers,
ADCs and DACs,...
➢ Example: Xilinx Zynq-7000
✓ AMBA bus for interconnection
Interface categorization
➢ Interface types
Parallel vs. serial interfaces
➢ Parallel: multiple bits simultaneously
✓ Examples: ISA bus, PCI, printer port
+ Simpler controller hardware
- More links (wires), more expensive

➢ Serial: only a single bit at a time

✓ Examples: SPI, I2C, USB, UART (RS-232), Firewire, PCI Express,
Ethernet,...
+ Fewer lines → cheaper
+ lower size, complexity of the connectors, and the associated costs
- More complex hardware
➢ Serial interface is slower than parallel given the same frequency
Speed = (bit rate or clock frequency) x bus length
Parallel vs. serial interfaces, cont.
➢ Serial links can be clocked considerably faster than parallel
links!
➢ Problems with parallel interfaces that limits their clock
speed:
✓ Signal skew: different delays on different lines
❖ The receiver have to wait for all lines to settle
❖ It reduces the speed of interface to the slowest line
✓ Crosstalk: interference between the parallel lines
❖ The effect worsens with the length of the link. Thus,
the length of a parallel interfaces is usually shorter than
a serial.
➢ The trend is towards more use of serial interfaces
✓ cheap, small size, and even faster!
Agreements in serial interfaces
➢ Baud rate (frequency)
✓ By a clock signal (synchronous) or with settings (asynchronous)
➢ Character-length
✓ Number of bits per character
➢ Bit order
✓ Is data sent most-significant bit (MSB) first, or vice-versa? If it is not
otherwise stated, you can usually assume that data is transferred least-
significant bit (LSB) first.
➢ Framing
Synchronous serial interfaces
➢ External clock signal between transmitter and receiver
➢ Examples: SPI, I2C

➢ Usually more efficient in use of bandwidth than asynchronous interfaces

✓ involves very little logic and can run very fast
➢ Not suitable for long distances because of skew and other effects on clock
signal
➢ Every device on the bus must run at the same clock rate
Asynchronous serial interfaces
➢ No external clock line between two devices (clock-less)
➢ Extra effort needed for reliably transferring and receiving data
✓ Sender and receiver need to get synchronized anyway!
➢ Examples: UART, USB, Ethernet

➢ Overhead
➢ Synchronization error
➢ Less number of lines
➢ It can be lengthened without worrying about clock skew
Full-duplex and half-duplex serial interfaces
➢ Half-duplex communication: serial devices must take turns sending and
receiving
✓ Examples: I2C, USB2
➢ Full-duplex means both devices can send and receive simultaneously
✓ Examples: SPI, RS-232, USB3, SATA