Instrument Control Toolbox

What Is Serial Communication?

Serial communication is the most common low-level protocol for communicating between two or more devices. Normally, one device is a computer, while the other device can be a modem, a printer, another computer, or a scientific instrument such as an oscilloscope or a function generator.

As the name suggests, the serial port sends and receives bytes of information in a serial fashion -- one bit at a time. These bytes are transmitted using either a binary format or a text (ASCII) format.

Serial Port Overview

The Serial Port Interface Standard