UNIT-IV

Need for communication interfaces, RS232 / UART, RS422 / RS485, USB, Infrared, IEEE 1394
Firewire, Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, Blue tooth.

Need For Communication: Embedded systems are specialized computing systems designed to
perform specific functions within larger systems. Communication interfaces in embedded
systems enable interaction and data exchange between the embedded device and external
components. They facilitate seamless communication between microcontrollers, sensors,
actuators, and other peripherals. Communication interfaces are essential for enabling
connectivity, remote monitoring, and control in embedded applications.

The communication interface can be viewed in two different perspectives; namely;

1. Device/board level communication interface (Onboard Communication Interface)

2. Product level communication interface (External Communication Interface)

1. Device/board level communication interface (Onboard Communication Interface): The

communication channel which interconnects the various components within an embedded
product is referred as Device/board level communication interface (Onboard Communication
Interface)

Examples: Serial interfaces like I2C, SPI, UART, 1-Wire etc and Parallel bus interface

2. Product level communication interface (External Communication Interface): The Product

level communication interface (External Communication Interface) is responsible for data
transfer between the embedded system and other devices or modules. The external
communication interface can be either wired media or wireless media and it can be a serial or
parallel interface.

Examples for wireless communication interface: Infrared (IR), Bluetooth (BT), Wireless LAN
(Wi-Fi), Radio Frequency waves (RF), GPRS etc.

Examples for wired interfaces: RS-232C/RS-422/RS 485, USB, Ethernet (TCP-IP), IEEE 1394
port, Parallel port etc

Types of Communication Interfaces:

a. RS232 / UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter): Widely used serial

communication interface for connecting devices over short distances. Simplex, half-duplex, or
full-duplex communication methods are supported.
b. RS422 / RS485: Differential serial communication interfaces suitable for longer distance
communication. RS485 supports multi-point communication, while RS422 is ideal for point-to-
point connections.

c. USB (Universal Serial Bus): Popular interface for connecting peripherals to embedded
systems. Supports high-speed data transfer and plug-and-play features.

d. Infrared: Wireless communication technology used for remote controls, data transfer, and
sensor applications. Suitable for short-range communication within line-of-sight constraints.

e. IEEE 1394 Firewire: High-speed serial bus interface used for multimedia and high-
performance applications. Supports peer-to-peer communication and hot-swapping capabilities.

f. Ethernet: Standard for wired local area network (LAN) communication in embedded systems.
Enables high-speed data transfer, remote access, and network connectivity.

g. IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi): Wireless networking standard for local area network communication.
Allows devices to connect to wireless networks for data exchange and internet access.

h. Bluetooth: Short-range wireless communication protocol for connecting devices in close

proximity. Ideal for IoT applications, wireless peripherals, and data exchange between devices.

RS232/UART: The term RS232 stands for "Recommended Standard 232" and it is a type of
serial communication used for transmission of data normally in medium distances. In
telecommunication, the process of sending data sequentially over a computer bus is called as
serial communication, which means the data will be transmitted bit by bit. While in parallel
communication the data is transmitted in a byte (8 bit) or character on several data lines or buses
at a time. Serial communication is slower than parallel communication but used for long data
transmission due to lower cost and practical reasons.
RS232 is a standard protocol used for serial communication, it is used for connecting computer
and its peripheral devices to allow serial data exchange between them. As it obtains the voltage
for the path used for the data exchange between the devices. It is used in serial communication
up to 50 feet with the rate of 1.492kbps.

Universal Asynchronous Data Receiver &Transmitter (UART): It is used in connection with

RS232 for transferring data between printer and computer. The microcontrollers are not able to
handle such kind of voltage levels, connectors are connected between RS232 signals. These
connectors are known as the DB-9 Connector as a serial port, and they are of two type’s Male
connector (DTE) & Female connector (DCE).

RS232 works on the two-way communication that exchanges data to one another. There are two
devices connected to each other, (DTE) Data Transmission Equipment& (DCE) Data
Communication Equipment which has the pins like TXD, RXD, and RTS& CTS. Now, from
DTE source, the RTS generates the request to send the data. Then from the other side DCE, the
CTS, clears the path for receiving the data. After clearing a path, it will give a signal to RTS of
the DTE source to send the signal. Then the bits are transmitted from DTE to DCE. Now again
from DCE source, the request can be generated by RTS and CTS of DTE sources clears the path
for receiving the data and gives a signal to send the data. This is the whole process through
which data transmission takes place.

UART: UART means Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter Protocol. UART is used for
serial communication. UART protocol can be applied to any transmitter and receiver, and in this
protocol clock signal can not be used for communication of data.

Two wires are set up here, with one designated for transmission and the other for reception. The
data format and transmission speeds can be configured beforehand. Therefore, before starting
communication, define the data format and transmission speed. This setup does not use a clock,
making it asynchronous communication using the UART protocol.
The configuration of UART is done before transmission, both of these devices are connected
with protocol and should know the speed of data transmission. First, define the speed of both
devices. Now, configure the speed of DEVICE A and B for data transmission which is referred to
as Baud Rate so here Baud Rate will be the same for DEVICE A and B otherwise both of these
devices cannot understand at what speed and at what rate data is coming. After that, configure
the data length so here DEVICE A and DEVICE B both are configured at fixed data length if
DEVICE A is transmitting data, then it is configured with fixed data. Like if DEVICE A is
configured with the eight-bit size of data then DEVICE B should also be configured at the same
size of data which is eight bits. After this, check data transmission or receiving time, forward
start bits, and stop bits.

UART Data Format

RS422: RS-422 is a serial communication standard. RS-422, formally known as TIA/EIA-422, is
a technical standard specifying electrical characteristics for balanced voltage digital interface
circuits. RS-422 typically transmits data at rates of 230 Kbps, but the speed can be increased to
around 1 Mbps. The maximum distance for an RS-422 connection is typically 300 meters. RS-
422 cables typically have 25 wires and use DB37 or DB9 connectors.