Up to eight RS232 serial devices can be connected to a single USB port with full hardware and software flow control and no additional IRQ or memory address requirements
USB to serial port adapters manufactured by Perle Systems and now available from Celsum Technologies, make it extremely easy to connect multiple RS-232 serial devices to the USB ports of a computer system.
Available with one, two, four, or eight DB9 nine-pin D connector serial inputs connecting via a single USB port, the UltraPort range operates with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 host ports, has plug and play and hot plug features, and allows serial port speeds of up to 230kbps.
The serial ports appear a standard Windows Com ports, and may be renumbered at Com1 to Com4 to operate with applications such as HyperTerminal.
Full RS232 modem control signals are available, with full hardware and software flow control, there are no additional IRQ or memory address requirements, and the units are ESD surge protected to 15kV.
The UltraPort units will work with Windows 98, 2000, XP, ME and with Linux operating systems, comes with Perle's limited lifetime warranty and support, including free downloadable software updates.
Roy Carter, Celsum Technologies's managing director, commented: "The UltraPort USB range is a very robust, well-engineered and easy to install range of interface adapters.
"Modern computers typically have several USB ports but only one 'traditional' serial Com port.
"UltraPort allows up to eight serial devices to be connected without the need to dismantle the computer to add PCI serial port expansion cards, and without the need for an engineer.
"The UltraPort USB range is complementary to the serial products which we supply, which include strain gauge conditioning amplifiers and process control instruments".
Typical applications for the UltraPort USB adapters include connecting electronic point of sale (EPOS) devices, modems, serial printers and data capture devices, and find uses in the office, laboratory, workshop, shops and supermarkets, research, development, process plant, warehouse and industrial automation and many other applications.
