National Instruments PCI-8430 - Page 145

RS-232
AsspecifiedintheANSI/EIA-232-DStandard,InterfaceBetweenData
TerminalEquipmentandDataCircuit-TerminatingEquipmentEmploying
SerialBinaryDataInterchange,RS-232standardizesserial
communicationbetweencomputersandbetweencomputerterminalsand
modems.ManyapplicationsusetheRS-232standardtointerface
peripheralstopersonalcomputers.RS-232usestransmissionlinesin
whichthestateofeachsignalisrepresentedbyreferencingthevoltage
levelofasinglelinetoground.RS-232wasdesignedforserial
communicationuptodistancesof50ftandwithdataratesupto20
kbytes/s.However,becauseofimprovementsinlinedriversandcabling,
itispossibletoincreasetheactualperformanceofthebuspastthe
limitationsonspeedanddistancerecommendedinthespecification.