I/O Controller connects serial devices to any USB host.
Press Release Summary:
Designed for mobile and embedded solutions, PL-2303HX high-performance USB-to-Serial Bridge Controller is available in 5 mm square footprint that can fit inside connectors or handheld devices. It can connect directly to 3.3-1.8 V devices and while its flexible baud rate generator can be programmed to generate any rate between 75 bps to 12 Mbps. Fully USB 2.0 compliant product supports full handshaking for RS232 and RS422/RS485 2-wire interfaces.
Original Press Release:
Prolific USB1.1 to Serial Bridge Controllers with Advanced Features Now Available in USA.
Pittsford, NY: Prolific's USB ICs - widely used overseas - are now available from their USA distributor Saelig Company Inc. (NY). Prolific Technology Inc., a leading Taiwan IC design house whose USB ICs are in volume use in Far East-manufactured USB-connected consumer products, have released PL-2303HX a new, low-cost, high-performance USB-to-Serial Bridge Controller, previously only available to Far East manufacturers but now available in the USA. PL-2303HX provides a convenient and versatile solution for connecting serial devices to any USB host. Due to its ubiquitous use in mass-produced devices, PL-2303HX's tried-and-tested, widely-compatible, royalty-free drivers offer rugged stability in simulating a traditional COM port on most operating systems (XP, Vista, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Linux, etc.), thus allowing existing or new COM-port-based applications to easily migrate and be instantly USB-ready where no true COMports exist. Additionally, the flexible signal level requirements on the RS-232 serial port side allow PL-2303HX to connect directly to 3.3V to 1.8V devices - a feature not available on competing ICs. PL-2303HX integrates the on-chip clock generator and OTP ROM, eliminating external components, board area and cost.
By taking advantage of USB bulk transfer mode, large data buffers, and automatic flow control, PL-2303HX is capable of achieving faster throughput compared to traditional UART solutions. PL-2303HX's flexible baud rate generator can be programmed to generate any rate between 75 bps to 12M bps, with versatile data formats such as 1/1.5/2 stop bits, none/odd/even/mark/space parity and 5/6/7/8 data bits.
PL-2303HX has been specifically designed with mobile and embedded solutions in mind, and is available in a tiny 5mm square footprint that can easily fit inside connectors or handheld devices. With very low power consumption in either operating or suspend mode, PL-2303HX is perfect for bus-powered operation, leaving plenty of power available for attached USB devices. Unlike similar ICs, PL-2303HX supports full handshaking for RS232 and RS422/RS485 2-wire interfaces. PL-2303HX's on-chip OTP ROM stores startup device configurations such as product and serial number ID.
PL-2303HX, fully USB2.0(High-Speed)-compliant, offers extensive flow control features: adjustable high/low watermark level, automatic hardware or software flow control, inbound data buffer overflow detection, etc. and configurable 256-byte inbound/outbound buffers. Additionally, PL-2303HX supports remote wake-up from modem input signals (there are six modem control pins - RTS, CTS, DTR, DSR, DCD, and RI) and has 8 useful GPIO pins.
Drivers supplied for PL-2303HX are Windows and Vista-certified and the IC is USB-IF Logo Compliant with TID 40000100.
Supplied in a small footprint 28-pin SSOP or 32-pin QFN IC package, PL-2303HX is now available from their USA distributor Saelig Company. Other Prolific products are also available from Saelig.
