What are communication ports?
What are communication ports?
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A computer by itself can neither communicate with printers and outside storage devices, nor connect to the Internet. Communication ports are used to overcome this gap. These ports are used to attach several devices so as to enable the computer to communicate with them.
Following are the common communication ports that are available with computers:
A serial port, also known as a COM port, is the primary means for connecting a modem and mouse to a computer. There are two types of serial port connectors, 9-pin and 25-pin. The word serial refers to the fact that data is sent in series, one bit at a time, over a single wire. This design is significantly slower than sending 8 bits at a time via a parallel channel, but serial signals travel much farther without degradation. RS-232 standard is the specification for serial port communication.
A parallel port, also known as LPT port, is a 25-pin 2 row female connector on the back of a PC. It is used to connect printers, scanners, etc. A parallel port transfers information between computers and peripheral devices, 8 bits at a time. ECP, EPP, and SPP are types of parallel ports.
Enhanced Capabilities Port (ECP) is a high-speed parallel port developed by Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft in 1992. It offers enhanced performance for the parallel port and requires special hardware logic. ECP ports support high throughput communications.
ECP is an improved version of Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP). Unlike EPP, ECP supports Direct Memory Access (DMA). ECP ports can be converted into EPP or SPP using BIOS. However, it is recommended that the port be placed in the ECP mode for the best throughput.
Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) is a port that gives high-speed performance throughput for printers.
Standard Parallel Port (SPP) supports uni-directional communication, which means that it can only support one-way transmission of data from a computer. It is commonly used for printers.
Universal Serial Bus (USB) port is a high-speed port developed by Compaq, IBM, DEC, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, and Northern Telecom. It provides the Plug and Play capability of Windows to external hardware devices. USB port supports hot plugging, which means that a USB device can be installed or removed while the computer is running. A single USB port can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as CD-ROM drives, tape drives, keyboards, scanners etc. It has a data transfer rate of 12Mbps.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394, also known as Firewire, is a standard for high-speed serial port that provides enhanced PC connectivity for a wide range of devices. These devices include consumer audiovisual components, traditional PC storage devices, and handheld devices. IEEE 1394 port has a speed of 400Mbps.
SCSI ports are used to connect hard disks, cartridge tape drives, CD-ROM drives, and high-end scanners to computers for fast data transfer and I/O operations. These ports generally have 25-pin connectors or 50-pin connectors.
A game port is used to connect gaming devices such as joysticks to a computer. These ports have 15-pin female connectors. Generally, game ports are found on sound cards.
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