serial port

2 definitions found

serial port - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  serial port
      n 1: an interface (commonly used for modems and mice and some
           printers) that transmits data a bit at a time

serial port - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  serial port
  
     <hardware, communications> (Or "com port") A connector on a
     computer to which you can attach a serial line connected to
     peripherals which communicate using a serial (bit-stream)
     protocol.  The most common type of serial port is a 25-pin
     D-type connector carrying EIA-232 signals.  Smaller
     connectors (e.g. 9-pin D-type) carrying a subset of EIA-232
     are often used on personal computers.  The serial port is
     usually connected to an integrated circuit called a UART
     which handles the conversion between serial and parallel data.
  
     In the days before bit-mapped displays, and today on
     multi-user systems, the serial port was used to connect one
     or more terminals (teletypewriters or VDUs), printers,
     modems and other serial peripherals.  Two computers
     connected together via their serial ports, possibly via
     modems, can communicate using a protocol such as UUCP or
     CU or SLIP.
  
     (1995-01-12)