What exactly is RS-232?
Recommended Standard No. 232 was originally developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) to allow a computer to be connected to a modem so that data could be transmitted over telephone lines. The standard defines the electrical characteristics (i.e., connector-pin outs, voltage levels and electrical signals) for transmitting data from one electronic device to another. The RS-232 interface is also called a “serial” interface because digital data is transmitted “serially,” one bit at a time. Bytes of data are taken apart by a transmitter with each bit being transmitted in series. The receiving device collects the bits and puts them back together into the original data bytes. The content and structure of any data that is transmitted is not defined by the RS-232 standard, however; the most commonly used format for data is text and decimal numbers, that is, readable data (at least in the measuring- instrument industry). RS-485 and RS-422 data formats are also ser
