SERIAL

INTERFACES
REPORTER: ANDREW CONCEPCION
DEFINITION AND BASIC CONCEPT OF SERIAL
INTERFACE
A SERIAL INTERFACE IS A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM THAT
ALLOWS THE TRANSMISSION OF DATA ONE BIT AT A TIME OVER
A SINGLE COMMUNICATION LINE. UNLIKE PARALLEL
INTERFACES, WHICH TRANSMIT GROUPS OF BITS
SIMULTANEOUSLY THROUGH SEPARATE LINES, SERIAL
INTERFACES TRANSMIT DATA SEQUENTIALLY AND
CONTINUOUSLY.
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HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF SERIAL INTERFACES
EARLY USE OF SERIAL COMMUNICATION IN TELEGRAPHY AND
EARLY COMPUTING
• THE HISTORY OF SERIAL COMMUNICATION CAN BE TRACED
BACK TO THE EARLY DAYS OF TELEGRAPHY AND EARLY
COMPUTING SYSTEMS. TELEPRINTERS USED A SERIAL
INTERFACE TO TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE INFORMATION OVER
LONG DISTANCES, ALLOWING FOR EFFICIENT LONG-DISTANCE
COMMUNICATION.

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DEVELOPMENT AND STANDARDIZATION OF
RS-232
• IN THE 1960S, THE RS-232 SERIAL INTERFACE WAS DEVELOPED,
BECOMING THE FIRST STANDARDIZED SERIAL
COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL. RS-232 PROVIDED A COMMON
STANDARD FOR POINT-TO-POINT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
DEVICES, MAKING IT EASIER TO CONNECT MODEMS, PRINTERS,
AND OTHER COMPUTER PERIPHERALS TO MAINFRAME
COMPUTERS. RS-232 BECAME WIDELY ADOPTED IN INDUSTRIAL
CONTROL SYSTEMS AND OTHER APPLICATIONS.

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TYPES OF SERIAL INTERFACES
THERE ARE SEVERAL TYPES OF SERIAL INTERFACES COMMONLY USED IN VARIOUS
APPLICATIONS:
1.RS-232: THE RS-232 INTERFACE IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST AND MOST WIDELY USED
SERIAL INTERFACES. IT ENABLES POINT-TO-POINT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN DATA
TERMINAL EQUIPMENT (DTE) AND DATA COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT (DCE). RS-232
IS COMMONLY USED IN INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS AND COMPUTER
PERIPHERALS.
2.USB (UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS): USB IS A POPULAR AND VERSATILE SERIAL
INTERFACE USED IN CONSUMER ELECTRONICS. IT PROVIDES SEAMLESS
CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN DEVICES SUCH AS SMARTPHONES, COMPUTERS, CAMERAS,
AND PERIPHERALS. THE USB INTERFACE OFFERS COMPATIBILITY AND EASE OF USE,
MAKING IT A WIDELY ADOPTED STANDARD WORLDWIDE.
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TYPES OF SERIAL INTERFACES
3. SPI (SERIAL PERIPHERAL INTERFACE): SPI IS A SYNCHRONOUS SERIAL
COMMUNICATION INTERFACE THAT IS WIDELY USED IN EMBEDDED
DEVICES. IT FACILITATES HIGH-SPEED COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
MICROCONTROLLERS AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES, SUCH AS SENSORS,
AUDIO CONTROLLERS, DISPLAYS, AND MEMORY MODULES.
4. I2C (INTER-INTEGRATED CIRCUIT): I2C IS A WIDELY USED SERIAL BUS
PROTOCOL THAT ALLOWS COMMUNICATION BETWEEN INTEGRATED
CIRCUITS (ICS) IN VARIOUS DEVICES, INCLUDING CELLPHONES,
COMPUTERS, AND TV SETS. I2C IS KNOWN FOR ITS SIMPLICITY AND
EFFICIENCY, AS IT USES ONLY TWO WIRES.
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 A SERIAL INTERFACE STANDARD SHOULD
PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING:
1. A SPECIFIC RANGE OF VOLTAGES FOR TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE
SIGNAL LEVELS.
2. LIMITATIONS FOR THE ELECTRICAL PARAMETERS OF THE
TRANSMISSION LINE, INCLUDING SOURCE AND LOAD IMPEDANCE,
CABLE CAPACITANCE, AND OTHER ELECTRICAL.
CHARACTERISTICS.
3. STANDARD CABLE AND CABLE CONNECTORS.
4. FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION OF EACH SIGNAL ON THE ©TOMASI
INTERFACE.
RS-232 INTERFACE STANDARD:
CONNECTOR SPECIFICATIONS:
•STANDARD RS-232 CABLES HAVE DB25P MALE AND DB25S FEMALE CONNECTORS, WITH 25 WIRES.
•A SPECIAL PC VERSION HAS DB9P MALE AND DB9S FEMALE CONNECTORS, WITH NINE PINS.
•ADDITIONALLY, AN EIGHT-PIN EIA-561 MODULAR CONNECTOR IS USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR DIAL-UP
TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS.
VOLTAGE LEVEL LIMITATIONS:
•RS-232 STANDARD IMPOSES LIMITS ON VOLTAGE LEVELS FOR DTE AND DCE.
•CIRCUITS WITHIN DEVICES MUST CONVERT INTERNAL LOGIC LEVELS TO RS-232-COMPATIBLE VALUES.
•VOLTAGE-LEVELING CIRCUITS ENSURE COMPATIBILITY.

DRIVER AND TERMINATOR:

•VOLTAGE LEVELER ACTS AS A DRIVER (TRANSMITTER) OR TERMINATOR (RECEIVER) DEPENDING ON
ITS FUNCTION.
©TOMASI
 ©GOOGLE(1)
DB25P DB25S ©GOOGLE(2)

©GOOGLE(3)
DB9P DB9S ©TOMASI
VOLTAGE LIMITS:
•TABLE 22-7 SPECIFIES VOLTAGE LIMITS FOR RS-232-COMPATIBLE DRIVERS AND TERMINATORS.
•DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DRIVER OUTPUT AND TERMINATOR INPUT VOLTAGES DEFINES NOISE MARGIN
(NM), REDUCING INTERFACE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO NOISE TRANSIENTS.

©TOMASI
NOISE MARGIN AND IMMUNITY:
• NOISE MARGIN VARIES DEPENDING ON SPECIFIC VOLTAGE LEVELS USED FOR
HIGHS AND LOWS.
• HIGHER NOISE MARGIN INDICATES GREATER NOISE IMMUNITY.
SINGLE-END OPERATION:
• RS-232 OPERATES IN SINGLE-END (UNBALANCED) MODE WITH A COMMON
GROUND BETWEEN DTE AND DCE.
• SHORT CABLES USUALLY HAVE A COMMON GROUND, BUT LONGER CABLES OR
DEVICES POWERED FROM DIFFERENT ELECTRICAL BUSES MAY NOT.
 EXAMPLE PROBLEM

• Determine the noise margins for an RS-232 interface with

driver signal voltages of ±6 V.
• Solution The noise margin is the difference between the driver
signal voltage and the terminator receive voltage, or NM = 6 -
3 = 3 V or NM = 25 - 6 = 19 V
The minimum noise margin is 3 V.

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