Subj : Re: Looking For Bbs Clien
To   : Nightfox
From : AKAcastor
Date : Thu May 02 2024 20:09:22

 N> I've wondered the same thing.  But I've had the thought 
 N> that technology has advanced a bit since then, and 
 N> hopefully they'd be able to fit a good enough UART into 
 N> the space available for USB-to-serial cables.  Unless 
 N> the manufacturer is being really cheap, I'd see no 
 N> reason not to use a 16550 (or equivalent/better) in 
 N> those USB-to-serial cables.

The 16550 has a 16 byte buffer.  An FTDI FT232R USB-to-serial IC has a 128 byte receive buffer.  So in some ways, the USB-to-serial cables are more capable than 16550 UARTs.  There are other USB-to-serial ICs, but FTDI is kind of the 'gold standard' and others I've looked at at similar specs.

A downside to USB-to-serial cables is that they use USB instead of being connected directly to the bus like a 16550 is.  So there is some latency between the data being received by the USB-to-serial cable and it being received by the software on the PC itself due to the USB protocol.  The throughput is great, but in some cases the latency can be a problem.  Usually for modem use it's fine, but some other serial devices can be thrown off by the added latency of USB.


Chris/akacastor


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 * Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

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