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View Full Version : Questions about PPC port options


skinned_knuckles
12-02-2004, 04:39 PM
I have some digital sensors that I need to interface with my PPC. These sensors have serial ports for sending simple commands and downloading very small amounts of data to a computer. I would also like to collect some GPIB data with a PPC. I'm planning to buy a Dell or and ipaq with bluetooth. Here are my questions.

If a PPC has a USB port, is it exclusively a client port (to connect with a desktop PC) or may it also work as a server port, that is, could I drive simple USB devices (assuming the drivers are available) with any PPC?

What about serial ports? Which PPCs have serial ports and can I use that to send simple commands and collect single number data values?

Thanks,

Jonathan

Sven Johannsen
12-02-2004, 06:45 PM
The vast majority are just client ports. Those that have a USB host capability reference that clearly in their specs, though sometimes it requires an adapter to implement it. The Dells specifically do not have host capability.

There are USB Host CF cards, so if the PPC has a CF slot, USB host can be added, subject to driver availability for the particular peripheral you waant to use.

Up until recently the majority of PPCs had serial capability at their sync connector, primarily to assure syncability with computers running NT. The serial cable was sometimes a trick to find. You can surmise serial capability if a cable is available from www.pc-mobile.net for connection to Garmin or Magellan GPSs, or if Pharos has a sync connector based GPS package for it.

Dell does have an odd configuration on the X5 at least. The interface at the sync connector, while serial, appears to be TTL, and the RS232 driver is contained in their serial sync cable. You can apparently fudge that without the driver, if you are looking for input to the PPC. The +/- 5v swing on an input that is looking for 0 and +5 seems to work without causing any damage. Output is a different story. I have not seen a serial cable offered for the X30 or X50 lines, though Pharos does sell 'serial' based GPS packages for at least the X30 at this point.

I can't coment on the current HP models, but the 4155, 2215, 5500 and prior models have serial capability (except the 1910/1940?), and the cables are easy to find.