RS-232

RS-232 (Recommended Standard 232) is a serial communication protocol and physical interface used to transfer serial data between various devices such as computers, peripherals, modems, printers, and other electronic devices. RS-232 was developed in the 1960s by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) and has since become the standard for serial communication in many applications.

Characteristics of RS-232:

Physical Interface: RS-232 uses serial pins (wires) to transfer data. These pins include a transmit data (TX) pin, a receive data (RX) pin, a flow control pin (RTS - Request to Send and CTS - Clear to Send), a ground zero (GND) pin, and others, depending on specific configuration.

Asynchronous Communication: RS-232 is an asynchronous communication method, which means that data is transferred without special time synchronization between devices. Each byte (8 bits) of data contains a start bit, a stop bit, and one or more data bits, allowing for easy communication.

Flow control: RS-232 allows data flow control between devices using the RTS (Request to Send) and CTS (Clear to Send) signals or the DTR (Data Terminal Ready) and DSR (Data Set Ready) signals. These signals are used to control when the device can start or stop data transmission.

Data transfer range: RS-232 supports a variety of data transfer rates that can range from a few tens of baud (b/s) to several hundred kilobauds (kb/s), depending on the specific configuration and quality of communication.

Uses: RS-232 was originally used in many applications such as serial printers, serial mice, modem, serial connection to peripherals and more. However, nowadays it is increasingly being replaced by modern technologies such as USB and wireless communication. RS-232 is still used in industry and some specialized applications.

See also: Serial port