External Interfaces

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 (numerical) format or a text format.

Overview of the Serial Port

The Serial Port Interface Standard

© 1994-2005 The MathWorks, Inc.