8.2 PARALLEL DATA TRANSFER
Instead of sending the bits in a byte one at a time, parallel buses send the bits in parallel, so that the entire byte arrives at once.
Basic parallel interfaces connect only two computers (see next section for other case)
Advantages,
- Can be very fast, and reliable
- Easy to create computer hardware to support
- Chips exist for easy implementation of this scheme
- The parallel port may be used for alternate form of digital I/O
Disadvantages,
- Cabling can be more expensive
- Standards are not as wide spread as serial communications
- parallel ports are not universally available on computers and peripherals
These interfaces have been popular for,
- printer, and disk interfaces because of their higher speeds, and low costs
- as a basic digital Input/Output source to drive indicator lights, keyboards, displays, etc.
8.2.1 GPIB Bus (IEEE-488)
A Parallel bus that has been enhanced to support a number of computers connected by the same cable.
A Brief History,
In the early 70's there was a movement towards standard serial interfaces, but no clear development of a parallel interface standard. As a result Hewlett Packard (HP) set out to develop the GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus).
The HP standard was accepted by both the IEEE and ANSI as standards in 1975.
By the early 80's the standard was available in small personal computers (e.g. Commodore Pet Computers).
Today many products, and chips are available for development and use of the standard.
Advantages,
- Widely available for test instruments
- Maximum speeds between 500 Khz and 1 MHz
- Can replace up to 16 individual serial interfaces with a single interface on the main computer
Disadvantages,
- Not necessarily real time,
- Can be difficult for beginners to learn the bus architecture, but users are often isolated from this.
- This is often used as a high performance interface on specialized equipment, but is not available on commercial applications anymore.
Some details,
- Each device on a GPIB bus has its own address number.
-A talker-listener protocol is used to resolve bus usage
- The devices on the bus can be instructed to identify themselves.
