56K V.92 Data, Fax, and Voice Chipset
Programmer’s Guide Intel Confide ntial 119
10. PARALLEL HOST INTERFACE 16C450/16C550A UART
The parallel host interface of the MD566X family emulate the electrical and register functions of a
16550A and 16C450 UART. Upon modem reset, the modem defaults to a 16C450. The host (DTE)
can then configure the UART to function as a 16C550A UART.
In 16C450 emulation mode, the DTE and modem transfer data back and forth a byte at a time. In
16C550A emulation mode, the modem provides two 16-byte FIFO buffers, one for the transmitter
and another for the receiver. Thus, up to 16 bytes of data may be sent to or received from the
modem for each data interrupt, instead of only a single byte, as in 16C450 mode. The following
diagram shows how the FIFO is used. Host software using this FIFO capability can significantly
reduce system overhead by reducing the number of times that interrupt service routines are called.

Figure 10-1. FIFO Buffers for Transmitter and Receiver

The register addresses are divided into two types: single-register access and multiple-register
access. Most of the UART registers are single-register access (that is, only one internal register is
accessible for a given register address). UART register addresses 3–7 are used to access a single
internal register. The remainder of the UART register addresses (0–2) are used to access two or
more internal registers.
Register address 2 is used to write FIFO control information into the FCR (FIFO Control register)
and to read the IIR (Interrupt Identity register).
Register address 1 is used to read and write data to the IER (Interrupt Enable register) [when
DLAB = 0] and the MS DLM (Divisor Latch register) [when DLAB = 1].
Register address 0 is used to read data from the RBR (Receiver Buffer register) [when DLAB = 0],
write data to the THR (Transmitter Holding register) [when DLAB = 0], and read and write to the
LS DLL (Divisor Latch register) [when DLAB = 1]. The UART registers and FIFO usage are
described in the following sections.
Modem Transmitter FIFO
Transmitter Transmitter
(THR)
Register
Holding
Shift
Register
UART Transmitter Flow Diagram
Modem Receiver FIFO
Receiver Receiver
(RBR)
Register
Buffer
Shift
Register
UART Receiver Flow Diagram
UART
UART
Modem
Modem
Host
(DTE)
Host
(DTE)