User’s Manual
25
3.4 Serial Communication
The LP3500 has three RS-232 serial ports that can set using the serMode software function
call as one RS-232 serial channel (with RTS/CTS) and one 3-wire channel, or they may be
set as three RS-232 (3-wire) channels.
Table 4 summarizes the options.
The LP3500 also has one RS-485 serial channel (Serial Port F), one CMOS-level serial
interface port (Serial Port D), and one CMOS-level serial channel that serves as the pro-
gramming port (Serial Port A).
All six serial ports operate in an asynchronous mode. An asynchronous port can handle 7
or 8 data bits. A 9th bit address scheme, where an additional bit is sent to mark the first
byte of a message, is also supported. Serial Port D and Serial Port A, the programming
port, can be operated alternately in the clocked serial mode. In this mode, a clock line syn-
chronously clocks the data in or out. Either of the two communicating devices can supply
the clock. The LP3500 uses a 3.6864 MHz crystal, which is doubled to 7.3728 MHz. At
this frequency, the LP3500 supports standard asynchronous baud rates up to a maximum
of 921,600 bps.
Table 5 lists the use and the capabilities of the six serial ports.
Table 4. RS-232 Serial Communication Configurations
serMode
Serial Port
B
C
E
0
RS-232, 3-wire
1
RS-232, 5-wire
CTS/RTS
RS-232, 3-wire
Table 5. LP3500 Serial Port Uses and Capabilities
Serial Port
Use
Header
Location
Synchronous
Capability
A
Programming port or logic-level
serial port
J5
Yes
B
3-wire RS-232
J4
No
C
3-wire RS-232 or RTS/CTS flow
control for Serial Port B
J4
No
D
Serial interface port supports SPI
device, also used by A/D converter
on LP3500
J6
Yes
E
RS-232
J4
No
F
RS-485
J4
No