Peripheral Interfaces

list of available interfaces

1. Serial
2. Parallel
3. ATA/IDE
4. Serial ATA
5. SCSI
6. USB
7. Firewire
8. Infrared serial
9. Joystick port
 The serial port
• The serial port is a low-speed peripherals port designed
for devices that don't need to transfer a lot of data, like
mice or modems.
• The port is "serial" because data bits are transmitted
one at a time.
• The international standard for serial ports is called RS-
232.
• Serial ports are still used for external modems,
PDAs/palmtops, and occasionally mice or game
controllers, but these devices are rapidly converting to
the newer Universal Serial Bus (USB).
• If your computer supports USB, a USB version of a
device is highly preferable to the serial port version for
long-term compatibility.
The serial port
The serial port
 The serial port, UARTs
Chip# speed
8250 9600 bps
16550 115 kbps
16550 230 kbps
16750 460 kbps

• You can find out what UART is installed in your PC by

running MSD.EXE in the DOS mode.
• You can find MSD.EXE in Win98/Me/2000 CD-ROM
/tools/ folder.
• Try shareware version of SiSoft Sandra -
http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/sandra/html/dload.htm
Enhanced Serial Port (ESP) or Super ESP
The serial port Configuaration
 The parallel port
• The parallel port is the wide 25-pin port on the back of
the computer which is used to communicate with
printers and some other peripheral devices.
• There are several different parallel port standards,
including
– SPP (standard parallel port),
– Bidirectional,
– EPP ("enhanced parallel port") and
– ECP ("extended capabilities port").
• Most modern computers can support any of these
standards via a user-selectable option in the BIOS
setup.
• For maximum compatibility, always set the parallel port
standard to match the standards supported by your
devices, and never attach more than two devices to the
same parallel port.
IEEE 1284, parallel port standard
The parallel port
parallel port types
 PS/2 type parallel port
• Bidirectional type is also known as PS/2 type or
Extended type.
 IDE, Integrated Drive Electronics
• IDE stands for Integrated Drive Electronics.
• Most consumer storage devices, like hard disks
and CD-ROMs, use the IDE interface to
communicate with the computer.
• PC compatible computers typically have two
IDE interface controllers, and each controller
can support two devices.
• Storage product manufacturers have confused
matters by trademarking their own names for
the IDE interface, calling it ATA, UDMA, or
EIDE.
• Although they may differ in performance
details, they are all intercompatible.
 IDE/ATA
• Usually these devices connect to the computer
through an Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE)
interface.
• Essentially, an IDE interface is a standard way
for a storage device to connect to a computer.
• IDE is actually not the true technical name for
the interface standard.
• The original name, AT Attachment (ATA),
signified that the interface was initially
developed for the IBM AT computer.
 IDE
• Also Known As: ATA, UDMA, EIDE,
UDMA/33, ATA/66, ATA/100, ATAPI
 ATA generations

ATA-1 8.33 MB/s

ATA-2 16.67 MB/s
ATA-3 16.67 MB/s
ATA/ATAPI-4, Ultra-ATA/33 33 MB/s UDMA
ATA/ATAPI-5, Ultra-ATA/66 66 MB/s UDMA
ATA/ATAPI-6, ATA/100 100 MB/s UDMA
ATA generations
 ATAPI
• ATA-4: Probably the two biggest additions to the standard in this version are
Ultra DMA support and the integration of the AT Attachment Program
Interface (ATAPI) standard.
• ATAPI provides a common interface for CD-ROM drives, tape backup drives
and other removable storage devices.
• Before ATA-4, ATAPI was a completely separate standard.
• With the inclusion of ATAPI, ATA-4 immediately improved the removable
media support of ATA.
• Ultra DMA increased the DMA transfer rate from ATA-2's 16.67 MB/sec to
33.33 MB/sec.
• In addition to the existing cable that uses 40 pins and 40 conductors (wires),
this version introduces a cable that has 80 conductors.
• The other 40 conductors are ground wires interspersed between the
standard 40 conductors to improve signal quality.
• ATA-4 is also known as Ultra DMA, Ultra ATA and Ultra ATA/33.
 ATAPI
• ATAPI stands for ATA Packet Interface.
• It's a variation on the IDE (also called
ATA) interface used for hard disks, which
is specially designed to accomodate
removable media devices like CD-ROMs,
DVD-ROMs, CD writers and tape drives.
ATA Connectors and Cables
ATA generations
ATA generations
 ATA generations
ATA-1 8.33 MB/s
ATA-2 16.67 MB/s
ATA-3 16.67 MB/s
ATA/ATAPI-4, Ultra-ATA/33 33 MB/s UDMA
ATA/ATAPI-5, Ultra-ATA/66 66 MB/s UDMA
ATA/ATAPI-6, ATA/100 100 MB/s UDMA
 Serial ATA
• High Speed Serialized AT Attachment
 Serial ATA
• http://www.explosivelabs.com/articles/sata/
Demultiplexing
Serial ATA Connectors
 Serial ATA Connectors
• (a) device signal plug segment or connector;
• (b) device power plug segment or connector;
• (c) signal cable receptacle connector, to be
mated with (a);
• (d) power cable receptacle connector, to be
mated with (b);
• (e) signal cable receptacle connector, to be
mated with (f), the host signal plug connector;
• (g) host receptacle connector mating directly
with device plug connector (a) & (b).
• Ref: Serial ATA 1.0 gold.pdf
SATA Signal Cable and Connector
SATA Signal Direct Connector
SATA Generations
 Parallel ATA vs. Serial ATA

Parallel ATA Serial ATA

Bandwidth 100/133 MB/Secs 150/300/600 MB/Secs
Volts 5V 250mV
Pins 40 7
Length Limitation 18 inch (45.72cm) 1 meter (100cm)
Cable Wide Thin
Ventilation Bad Good
Peer-to-Peer No Yes
 SCSI, Small Computer Systems Interface
• It is a high-speed peripherals expansion port which
provides support for up to 7 devices on a single
connector.
• SCSI is a complex and powerful standard; because of
its high bandwidth, it can handle all sorts of devices
including hard disks, CD-RW, scanners, removable
drives, etc.
• A few computers come with SCSI built-in, but it can be
added with a modestly priced PCI card.
• SCSI is comparable to the IDE, USB and parallel port
standards, but it is more flexible and more capable
than any one of them.
• Only Firewire (IEEE 1394) offers comparable
performance.
SCSI Types, Data transfer rates & Cables
 SCSI Types, Data transfer rates & Cables

LVD - Low Voltage Differential signaling; HVD - High voltage Differential signaling
SCSI, Symbols
SCSI, Low and High Density 50-pin Connectors
SCSI, High density 68 & 80-pin Connectors
DB-25 SCSI Connector
Cross Section of typical SCSI Cable
SCSI Terminators
SCSI ID Settings 0 ~ 7
SCSI Daisy chain connection: First & last device must be terminated
External SCSI Device Terminator
Internal SCSI Device Terminator
USB & Firewire
 USB
• USB stands for Universal Serial Bus, a new
standard for connecting external devices like
mice, keyboards, scanners and printers.
• USB offers many benefits over traditional
connection method, including thinner and
cheaper cables, greater expandability (with the
addition of a USB hub, a single USB controller
can handle up to 125 devices) and greater
speed.
• To use USB, your computer needs integrated
USB ports or a USB expansion card and
Windows 98; Mac users require a Mac with USB
and MacOS 8.1 or greater.
USB
USB Series-A and Series-B Plugs and Receptacles
USB Data Rates
 FireWire
• A very fast external bus standard that supports data
transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps (400 million bits
per second).
• Products supporting the 1394 standard go under
different names, depending on the company.
• Apple, which originally developed the technology,
uses the trademarked name FireWire.
• Other companies use other names, such as i.link and
Lynx, to describe their 1394 products.
 FireWire
• A single 1394 port can be used to connect up 63
external devices.
• In addition to its high speed, 1394 also supports
isochronous data -- delivering data at a guaranteed
rate.
• This makes it ideal for devices that need to transfer
high levels of data in real-time, such as video
devices.
• Although extremely fast and flexible, 1394 is also
expensive.
• Like USB, 1394 supports both Plug-and-Play and
hot plugging, and also provides power to peripheral
devices.
 Firewire, IEEE 1394
• IEEE 1394 is a standard interface for connecting
storage, digital video and many other devices to your
computer.
• Developed by Apple computer and trademarked with
the name Firewire, IEEE 1394 offers data bandwidth up
to 40 megabytes/second.
• One IEEE 1394 port can support up to 63 devices, with
the assistance of one or more IEEE 1394 hubs.
• The IEEE 1394 standard has special modes for
transferring video and other "synchronous"
information, making it ideal for communicating with
video cameras.
• The version of IEEE 1394 developed by Sony for its
video equipment is called i.LINK.
IEEE-1394 Cable, Socket, and Connector Plug
USB and IEEE-1394 Comparison

Daisy chaining allows

FireWire vs. USB
Keyboard/Mouse Interfaces
Keyboard/Mouse Connector Signals
Joystick Port
Sound Blaster Cards with different Connectors
InfraRed Data (IrDA) Connector on Motherboard