Intel® IXP42X product line and IXC1100 control plane processors—Universal Asynchronous
Receiver Transceiver (UART)
Intel® IXP42X Product Line of Network Processors and IXC1100 Control Plane Processor
DM September 2006
338 Order Number: 252480-006US
The Line-Control Register is initialized to hexadecimal 0x00 after reset. The Line-Status
Register is initialized to hexadecimal 0x60 after reset.
10.2.3 Using the Modem Control Signals
The IXP42X product line and IXC1100 control plane processors provide two modem
control signals, the Clear-to-Send input (CTS_N) and the Ready to Send output
(RTS_N).
The Clear-to-Send input signal is sampled by reading the Modem Status Register and
the Ready-to-Send output is controlled by the Modem Control Register. The Modem
Control Register is a 5-bit register that provides control for four modem control signals:
Only one of the four modem-control signals — Ready-to-Send — is replicated to the
external pins of the IXP42X product line and IXC1100 control plane processors. The
three other modem-control signals are only utilized when the UART is being used in
loop-back diagnostic mode. Bit 4 of the Modem-Control Register is the Loop Back Test
Mode bit (LOOP). The Loop Back Test Mode bit provides a local loop-back feature for
diagnostic testing of the UART.
When the Loop Back Test Mode bit is set to logic 1, the following will event will occur:
The transmitter serial output is set to logic 1 state.
The receiver serial input is disconnected from the pin.
The output of the Transmitter Shift Register is “looped back” into the Receiver Shift
Register input.
The Clear-to-Send input signal is disconnected from the pin
The Ready-to-Send output signal is forced to logic 1.
The lower four bits of the Modem Control Register are connected to the upper four
bits of the Modem Status Register
Status register bit mapping, while in loop back mode:
DTR = 1 forces DSR to a 1
RTS = 1 forces CTS to a 1
OUT1 = 1 forces RI to a 1
OUT2= 1 forces DCD to a 1
Table 132. UART Word-Length Select Configuration
WLS Number of Data Bits Contained in Each Transmitted Or Received Character
Bit 1 Bit 0
0 0 5-bit character (default)
0 1 6-bit character
1 0 7-bit character
1 1 8-bit character
OUT1 OUT2 Data Terminal Ready
Ready-to-Send Loop-back test control
bit