Serial Programming - upload.wikimedia....

Software Examples
• Serial Networks
• Packet Challenge/Verification
• Basic Serial Packets
• 8250 UART processing
• Raw RS-232 Signals
In the case of many serial data applications, not all of these layers are implemented. Often
it is just raw packets being transmitted in one direction, but sometimes even just a signal
of any kind can indicate some action take place on a computer, regardless of content. It is
possible to simply take the logic level of a raw RS-232 signal in your software, but at some
point the data does need to be converted and the voltages involved with RS-232 can damage
hardware, so this is very seldom done.
1.4 Software Examples
I don't want to get into a holy war over programming languages with this series of articles.
For the moment, I'm going to be using Turbo Pascal and Delphi as the programming
languages, if for no other reason then the fact that I am most comfortable programming
in this development environment. If a good C/C++ guru would like to "translate" these
routines, I would welcome that, as well as other programming languages where applicable.
Serial communication is complicated enough so please avoid esoteric languages like Intercal
or Malbolge. A good BASIC implementation would be welcome, as would LISP. I'll try to
avoid language-specific features and simply deal with functions in a generic sense, which
good programmers should be able to translate to the language of their choice.
These articles are meant to teach you the basics of serial data communication, not to be a
functioning serial data driver. Still, all code examples will be checked and sent through an
actual compiler before being listed in the articles, and hopefully fully debugged. There is no
one single way to accomplish these steps and tasks, so I am going to encourage a hands-on
approach to dealing with software and setting up networks.
While I've had quite a bit of experience in dealing with several serial data protocols (on
the packet level), I am by no means the topmost expert at this. As I said earlier, I have
considerable experience in dealing with communications at many levels, and I'd like to share
some of my very hard-won knowledge.
1.5 Applications in Education
While I am only a Software Engineer and don't have the "formal" credentials necessary
for making an educational textbook, I do believe that there is much that could be taught
about computer networking by students experimenting with serial data communication. The
audience that I am aiming for with these articles are the High School hackers/computer geeks
and undergraduate CS majors. A High School teacher that wanted to tackle a subject like
this, or if you wanted to cover a special topic course in a university setting where students
could get some very hands-on experience with communications protocols. Every layer of
5