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RS-232, RS-485 & Co. Simple Technology That Scores With Robustness

From Helmut Ritter, Product Manager at Bachmann Electronic | Translated by AI 4 min Reading Time

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In the office sector, the versatile USB connection has created many new possibilities; hardly anyone remembers that the mouse used to have a nine-pin DSub connector. In automation, Ethernet has established itself as the physics for various fieldbuses. Is there still a need for serial ports today, or is this technology finally obsolete? Do modern systems still need to support this method?

The serial interface still has its legitimacy in the age of Industry 4.0: it is still used, for example, to connect peripheral devices such as scanners.(Picture: © Guy - stock.adobe.com)
The serial interface still has its legitimacy in the age of Industry 4.0: it is still used, for example, to connect peripheral devices such as scanners.
(Picture: © Guy - stock.adobe.com)

Serial ports can do something: they are easy to use, cable connections can be assembled on site without special crimping tools, cable lengths can be several kilometers despite simple and inexpensive cable physics. Communication often takes place with a point-to-point connection and remains completely independent of the infrastructure of an IT/OT network. This not only creates confidence in operational reliability, it also eliminates the need for measures such as firewalls, the administration of access rights and avoids unexpected side effects by design.

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