Quatech SSP-300, SSP-200 user manual Introduction

1. Introduction

The SSP-200/300 is a single channel RS-422/RS-485 asynchronous serial adapter for systems equipped with PCMCIA Type II and/or Type III expansion sockets. The SSP-200/300 is a PCMCIA Type II (5 mm) card and is PCMCIA PC Card Standard Specification 2.1 compliant.

The SSP-200/300's serial port is implemented using a 16C750 Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART), which is the recommended communications interface for multitasking environments and with applications involving high data transfer rates.

PCMCIA Card Cable Assembly

Standard D-9 Female

Figure 1. SSP-200/300 Card and Cable Assembly

The SSP-200/300provides four differential signal pairs (two input and two output): TxD, RxD, AUXOUT, and AUXIN. TxD and RxD are always present at the connector. The AUXOUT and AUXIN signals can be used to support RTS/CTS handshaking, external clocking, or external signal loopback. The default configuration is RTS/CTS handshaking, with RTS transmitted through AUXOUT and CTS received through AUXIN. The role of AUXOUT and AUXIN can be set when the SSP-200/300 is configured.

The SSP-200/300 may be configured to operate in either the Full Duplex or Half Duplex mode; the SSP-200/300 may be configured so that the output drivers are always enabled, RTS or DTR enable the output drivers, or the output drivers are automatically enabled only when data is being transmitted. See the Hardware Information section for details on these topics.

Introduction 1-1