CHAPTER Serial and Parallel Communication

Chapter Objectives
Explain serial communication
Standards, ports, resources etc.

Show a few examples of serial communication connections used in practice Describe the features of parallel communication
Standards, use etc.

Chapter Modules
Serial communication Newer serial communication technologies Serial communication connections Parallel communication

Module
Serial Communication

Chapter Objectives
Explain serial communication
Standards, ports, resources etc.

Show a few examples of serial communication connections and ports used in practice

Definition of Serial Communication

Travels in series

A B Bit by bit transmission of information in series

Serial Communication Implementation

Popular implementation found in older and some newer computers is known as the RS-232 serial connection found in microcomputers Newer type of serial connections
Universal Serial Bus (USB) IEEE 1394 serial connection that is also known as the FireWire

Other Serial Communication Technologies

eSATA Fiber channel

RS-232C Serial Standard

The most popular standard Conforming serial ports are found in the following
Micro Minis and mainframes

Sometimes these ports are also known as the asynchronous ports or asnch ports in short It is also possible to conduct synchronous transmission through these ports as well

Purpose of the Serial Ports

Serial Interface

Parallel Digital Data

Expansion Bus

In Out Serial Digital Data

Standard Serial Port on a Computer (DB 9)

Serial Port Identification

Source: Black Box

Male and Female Connectors

Pins

Holes

Typical serial port

Source Black Box

Typical parallel port

Differentiating Between Serial and Parallel Ports

Parallel Female Port Serial Male Port

Serial Cable
DB9 Connector

DB25 Connector
Source Black Box

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Resources for Serial Ports

Support for Serial Ports

Both hardware and software support are required for the functioning of serial ports A microcomputer is supplied with two standard serial ports
Additional ports can be installed

Operating System Support

Earlier operating systems
Supported four serial ports

Todays operating systems

Support a larger number of serial ports

For most practical purposes, four serial ports are considered sufficient in a microcomputer
Only two, namely com1 and com2,

Port Properties
Com 1 Com2 Com3 Com4

IRQ I/O Address Base Memory Address Direct Memory Address (DMA) Channel

Assignment of Values
The assignment of the respective values for each port must be unique An IRQ, I/O address or DMA conflict can lead to a disruption in the execution of an application
This is no more a problem with newer OS and hardware

IRQ and Address Assignment

PORT IRQ ADDRESS -----------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 4 3 3F8-3FF 2F8-2FF These values should not normally be changed.

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Module
Faster RS-232 Serial Ports and Summary

Older and Newer Serial Ports

Older serial ports operated at a slower speed The newer serial ports operate at a faster speed The newer serial ports are equipped with a new processor The hardware in question is known as the UART processor

Enhanced Serial Ports

Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART

UART 16550/ 16650

Com. Port

The newer processor is required for communication at speeds of 115,200 bps

ISDN Line Requirement

In theory, the maximum speed over a single ISDN line is approximately 128K bps If necessary, enhanced serial ports can be installed by installing a board containing the enhanced ports

UART-based Ports

In Summary
Two standard serial ports are present on a microcomputer Resources
IRQ, I/O Address and DMA

Port settings
Communication speed, length of the data bits etc.

Later versions of the UART chip are required to support high speed communication through the serial

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Module
Newer Serial Communication Technologies: Universal Serial Bus (USB)

Universal Serial Bus

Being introduced as a high-speed replacement for the traditional RS-232 port USB has higher bandwidth
1.5 Mbps, 12 Mbps and 480 Mbps Faster than the RS-232 port that operates in the region of 115+ K bps

Devices can be daisy-chained

Daisy Chaining of USB Devices

USB Connection Device 3

Computer

USB Port In
Device 1 Device 2

Out

Connecting USB Devices Using a Hub

USB Connection Device 3

Computer

USB Port In
Hub

Device 2

Out

Sample USB Devices

Keyboards Monitors Digital Cameras Digital Vide Recorders etc.

USB Standards
USB 1.1 USB 2.0 USB On-The-Go (OTG)
A newer standard being designed for portable and small devices

U3 Standard

USB Connectors
Type A
Upstream connectors From the system Downstream connectors To the device

Type B Mini A Mini B

mini-A and mini-B and mini-AB

Smaller connector for PDAs, mobile phones and digital cameras Small for factor connectors for USB OTG

Support for the Deployment of USB in Microcomputers

There are two requirements for USB implementation One is the presence of USB hubs to support USB ports on the microcomputer The other is the support required from the operating system to operate the USB Most motherboards now have built-in support for USB Not all versions of the Windows OS support for USB

Operating System Support for USB

The newer operating systems such as Windows XP or the later versions of some of the older operating systems support USB
Windows 98 Windows 95 OSR2

In accordance with USB standards, these operating systems support hot plug-and-play for USB devices

Hot Plug-and-Play
The ability to connect a device to the computer while a computer is in operation As the device is connected, the OS would:
Recognize the device Configure the device

There is no manual intervention in the above process

Advantages of USB Over the RS-232 Port

Higher speed Ability to daisy chain different devices Support for hot plug-and-play

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Module

IEEE 1394 FireWire Connection

IEEE 1394 Standard (FireWire)

In some ways, it competes with USB Bandwidth is 400M bps or 50M Bps In theory therefore, it can replace older SCSI and IDE used for connecting hard disks FireWires impact is most likely to be felt in multimedia applications involving audio and video Some basic networking can be done through the Firewire ports as well

Data Transmission
100 Mbps, 200 Mbps and 400 Mbps Newer ports are being developed to support 800 Mbps and 1600 Mbps Data is transmitted in packets and it is available to all the devices on the bus

Networking with Firewire

1394 supports peer-to-peer networks based on point-to-point connections Computers can be networked in a peer-to-peer architecture using the Firewire port

Type of Transmission
Asynchronous (bulk) transfer guarantees correct transmission; suitable for control data and where error-free transmission takes precedence over speed. Isochronous transfer - guarantees bandwidth (ideal for transmitting time critical data, e.g. video, audio) Courtesy: www.thesycon.de

 The maximum distance between nodes is 4.5 m (revisions to the standard will support distances of 100 m between nodes Up to 27 devices can be connected to each node. Courtesy: www.thesycon.de

 Hot-swapping allows users to attach and detach devices while the network is running; the network is reconfigured automatically. Each bus supports up to 64 nodes and the specification supports up to 1024 buses. A 1394 bus appears as a flat space in memory, with each node occupying a 48 bit address range. Integrated power supply - devices receive power through the bus. Courtesy: www.thesycon.de

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Module
Fiber Channel

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Module

Serial Communication Connections

Unix Computer Connection

Multiple serial ports
Multi-user Micro (Unix) RS-232C Connection ASCII Terminal Microcomputer ASCII Terminal

Multiple Port Support

Interface Card

Multiple Ports

Popular Unix Configuration

Central Unix server TCP/IP

Microcomputers as terminals

Remote Access Server

LAN

Server with Multi-serial Ports RS-232C Connection Modem Modem Modem

Dial-in access

LapLink Connection
Laptop/ Notebook/ Computer RS-232C Serial Lap-link Connection

Desktop Computer

Note: Lap Link serial cable is specially wired to make the connection

X.25 Standard
Used in WAN connections X.25 is used in the U.S. Its equivalent X.21 is used in Europe Today, the above older technologies are being replaced with newer digital technologies
ATM Frame Relay etc.

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Parallel Communication

Definition of Parallel Communication

Transmission of information over multiple links between two points
Multiple electronic links

Parallel Transmission

Multiple links

IEEE 488 Parallel Standard

Established by IEEE Used extensively in parallel Communication Examples:
Computer to printer connection Lap Link connection

Does not play as important a role as the serial standard

Hardly any parallel long distance links in practice

Parallel Port and Serial Ports in a Microcomputer

DB25F DB9M DB25M

Parallel LPT1: Serial Com1: Serial Com2:

Parallel Port Resources

Resources must also be assigned to the parallel port as well
IRQ and I/O address range

Sample values assigned for LPT1

IRQ 7 I/O address range 378 - 37f These values should not be changed in general

Summary
A microcomputer is equipped with one standard parallel port Additional parallel ports can be installed Used extensively for connecting a printer
Used for connecting other devices as well

Needs to be assigned resources Identified by the DB25 female

Parallel Port Resource Assignment Demonstration

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Newer and Faster Parallel Port Standards

Popular Introductions
Standard Parallel Port (SPP) Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) Extended Capability Port (ECP)

EPP and ECP

Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP)
Introduced in 1991 to increase the parallel port communication speed to 500K Bps

Extended Capability Port (ECP)

Introduced further refinement to the EPP For better performance under a multitasking environment

Support for EPP and ECP

Must be built into the hardware namely into the motherboard Activated at the system level by enabling the support for EPP and ECP in the system BIOS For example, the System BIOS can be accessed during boot-up by pressing the delete key immediately after switching on the power to the computer

Other Features Supported

Wake-up signal sent to the printer Consider the case of a newer laser printer that is attached to a microcomputer through an ECP port
Printer must also be connected to the microcomputer using a cable conforming to the IEEE specification

Wake Up Feature
No printing activity for a predetermined period of time
Printer enters into a sleep mode Printer does not consume power

When a print job is ready for printing

Computer sends a signal to wake up the printer The printing then proceeds thereafter

Salient Features of EPP and ECP

EPP was introduced to increase the speed of the parallel port ECP was introduced to add further enhancements to EPP
Improve the performance under multitasking

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Module
ECP Computer Entry

ECP Entry Check

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