3
INTRODUCTION
The Fastcom: 232/8-PCI adapter is one of the fastest, most advanced eight-channel RS-232 adapter in the
industry. Primarily designed for commercial, industrial, and OEM applications, the Fastcom: 232/8-PCI
features
eight discrete RS-232 channels, complete with all standard hand-shaking signals for each channel.
The advanced universal asynchronous receiver and transmitter (UART) chips used on the Fastcom: 232/8-PCI
are fully register compatible with standard 16C550 UARTs, but
provide extraordinary 128 byte FIFOs for
receive and transmit buffering.
This buffering is extremely valuable when working with RS-232
communications within high-overhead operating systems such as Windows NT and Windows 98. Each of the
eight channels of the advanced UARTs on the Fastcom: 232/8-PCI are each capable of all standard baud rates
plus a high-speed mode capable of up to an amazing 725 Kbps.
(RS-232 data rates are realistically limited
by cable length and driver/receiver characteristics to data rates less than 725 Kbps.) If your application requires
faster data rates or better noise immunity, we suggest you try our MegaBaud family of RS-232 adapters or our
RS-422 family of PCI adapters, such as the Fastcom: 422/4-PCI.
Software drivers for Windows 98/NT/2000/XP and Linux are supplied. Multiple Fastcom: 232/8-PCI adapters can
be installed in all operating systems.
The Fastcom RS-232-PCI family also includes the four-channel Fastcom: 232/4-PCI and the isolated ground two-
channel Fastcom: IG232/2-PCI. ISA bus versions are also available.
The following is the basic structure of the Fastcom: 232/8-PCI:
RS-232
DB78
8
DRIVERS /
RECEI
VERS
PCI
INTERFACE
CONTROLLER
CLOCK
CONTROL
REGISTER
PCI BUS
CS
A0-A2
DATA
INTERRUPT
CLOCK
CHANNEL 1 (OF 8)
TXD
RXD
RTS
CTS
DTR
DSR
DCD
RI
