10.1 RS-232 Serial Port |
The SP-ICE-3 Card's Serial Port (X802 RS-232) can be connected to external equipment, and used to control and monitor it by the exchange of suitable messages and responses.
The SP-ICE-3 ClientLib and the card's firmware together provide both API and CommandList functionality which not only accesses the serial port for sending messages and receiving responses, but also allows the responses to be used for flow-control.
Overview of serial port functionality.In general, the serial port functionality provided by the SP-ICE-3 ClientLib falls into two categories: Configuration and Operation.
Configuration
You can configure the serial port as necessary for your application by specifying appropriate values for properties of SerialPortConfig, which you then pass to SerialPortAPISetConfig.
 Note |
|---|
It is not possible to configure the serial port from within a CommandList. |
Operation
The serial port can be operated either in synchronism with list execution, or independently (or both, depending on your application).
Desired operating mode. | What to do. |
|---|---|
In synchronism with list execution. | Make calls to AppendSerialPortTransmitLine, etc., when building CommandLists for subsequent execution. |
Independent of list execution. | Call methods of the SerialPortAPI as and when necessary. |
Typical use-cases for the serial port.Here are some of the uses to which the serial port may be put.