How Serial Ports Work?
- Physical Connection: Serial ports have a set of pins on a computer or device that connect to corresponding pins on the peripheral device using cables. Common types include RS-485 and RS-232.
- Data Transfer: Unlike parallel ports which send several bits simultaneously, serial ports send bits one after another over a single wire or pair of wires. This hardware design simplification through sequential transmission makes it ideal for sending information across long distances.
- Serial Communication Protocol: In order for data to be sent and received accurately via serial communications there is need to follow some rules called protocols. These rules may involve but not limited to baud rate, parity bit, data bits and stop bits. Baud rate determines the speed at which communication takes place in bits per second (bps) while parity bit aids in detecting errors during transmission; data bits together with stop bits define how each frame should look like.
- Start and Stop Bits: Usually every data frame starts with a start bit, which shows the beginning of the frame, and ends with one or more stop bits that indicate its end as well as provide synchronization for the receiver.
- Flow Control: Flow control can be done through hardware like RTS/CTS or software such as XON/XOFF to regulate data flow between sending and receiving devices. It ensures that data is not lost by making sure that the recipient can receive it at its own rate.
- Error Detection and Correction: Error detection can be achieved using parity checking or checksums among other methods. This helps in finding out whether there are any mistakes in what has been sent. Moreover, some protocols enable error recovery from errors detected during transmission.
- Asynchronous vs Synchronous Communication: Serial communication can be asynchronous or synchronous. In asynchronous communication, there is no continuous clock signal while sending data but in synchronous communication data is transmitted along with a clock signal which keeps on changing systematically. Asynchronous communication is widely used because it’s easy to implement whereas synchronous communication offers higher rates of transferring information.
What is Serial Port?
Serial ports are communication interfaces used for the transfer of data between a computer or a device and external peripherals like printers, scanners, and modems among others. In this article, we are going to discuss every point about Serial Ports.