Integrated 8052 microcontroller, I 2C, IrDA up to 115200 baud, auto handshake, internal test & diagnostics, 4x GPIO Linux and Mac drivers seem to require (free).ġ In October 2014 FTDI published Windows drivers version 2.11.0 and 2.12.0.0 that will check for fake FTDI chips. Seems to be used by old versions of the V&A VA4000 device cable. It seems that fakes of Prolific chips with limited reliability exist.įamily of several devices, 1-4 serial ports. With RS232 transceiver 4x GPIO Custom baud rates seem to require special driver from manufacturer. Linux, Mac, WinCE4.2-7, Win2000, XP, Vista, 8Ĥx GPIO, 4x Aux GPIO >115200 baud without control lines Custom baud rates seem to require special driver from manufacturer. There has been critique concerning the quality of the driver (for which OSses?). There exists information on the net that it is based on a PIC18F14K50 microcontroller. HW Handshake supported only up to 115200 baud.Ģ serial ports, 2x I 2C, 2x SPI, 17x GPIOįTDI chips have 2 different driver models, one allowing bit-banging and other exotic features with appropriate chips.Īllows many protocols, including UART, JTAG, I 2C, SPI, FT1248, bit-bangĨx GPIO custom baud rates set in non-standard way using DLL/USB commands. USB to serial converter chipsets Manufacturerġ serial, 1 parallel port and 3-port USB hub out of production Sometimes a device might work on a converter of type A and won't on a converter of type B, depending on the chips used and other parameters chosen by the manufacturer. Some RS232 devices won't work on USB-RS232 converters because these converters tend to be at the lower end of these voltages and the devices need a higher RS232 signal voltage to work, e.g. The RS232 standard allows quite a huge span of 3 to 15V resp. a Maxim MAX232, is required to interface to a RS232 or other interface that uses different signal levels. Most of the USB to serial converter chipsets deliver 3.3V or 5V TTL level signals and an additional converter chip between signal levels usually called a Line Driver/Receiver, e.g. Many original USB cables from OEM manufacturers use these converters, too, either with the chip manufacturer's or a custom USB ID. The problems with some chipsets mostly seem to be more related to the quality of the driver than that of the hardware.

Chipset and driver need to be seen as a union. Please note that a chipset-specific driver for the respective operating system is required (sometimes included in the OS already, e.g. Many different chipsets exist that have slightly different properties, often supporting only a subset of what common UARTs like the 8250/16550A can do.

To operate devices that have RS232 or TTL serial interfaces on computers that have only USB interfaces, converters are available.

3 Common serial to RS232 line driver/receiver chipset manufacturers.

Parallel to serial converter wiki