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Reduced cost of ownership |
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 Although
modern hardware peripherals are likely to be connected by
Ethernet or USB, many legacy peripherals require a serial
connection. The UPort family of USB-to-serial products extends
the useful life of these legacy peripherals by making them
accessible through a USB port. For example, the UPort 1400
or 1600 allows 4 to 16 peripherals with different serial
interfaces to be managed through just one USB port. By maximizing
existing resources with minimum new investment, UPort products
can help reduce the total cost of ownership. Also, by enabling easier management of peripherals through USB operation, UPort products can help generate significant long term savings. |
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RS-232/422/485 operation |
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UPort products are mobile, expandable, and reliable. Selected models within the UPort 1100, 1400, and 1600 lines include full support for RS-232 modem data and control signals (TxD, RxD, DTR, DSR, RTS, CTS, DCD), as well as RTS/CTS hardware flow control. Versions that support 4-wire RS-422/485 and 2-wire RS-485 are also available, with a serial data rate of up to 921.6 Kbps and a 128-byte FIFO. DB9 male connectors are standard, making it easy to attach serial devices. A DB9-to-terminal block adaptor is also included to simplify wiring for RS-422 and RS-485 applications. |
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Bus power and external power |
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UPort 1400 and 1600 hubs can be powered through the USB port or through an external power adaptor. When used with laptops and workstations, which generally support 500 mA output for USB devices, bus power is sufficient and no power adaptor is needed. An external power adaptor is provided so that the UPort 1400 and 1600 can be used with USB hubs that only provide 100 mA of current. |
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COM Preserver technology |
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COM Preserver™ automatically restores your COM port setting when switching to another USB port or computer.
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In Windows applications, COM ports are referred to by designations such as COM3 or COM4. For most USB-to-serial products, these designations are not saved if the product is unplugged from the USB port.
When the product is plugged back into another USB port, the user
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may
find it necessary to re-assign all port designations manually
by laboriously tracing through the Windows application. UPort
1400 and 1600
USB-to-serial hubs address this issue with the COM Preserver
feature, which retains COM port settings, including names and
designations on the hub itself. By default, COM Preserver is
disabled to allow Windows to assign COM port
designations automatically. Users would need to modify
their application manually, or even re-build the entire project
when a new operating system
is installed or the PC is upgraded.
When COM Preserver is enabled, COM port settings are saved onto the
UPort hub, and can be restored anytime the hub is plugged back into
the PC, even if it is plugged back into another PC or USB hub.
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