Description
PL2503 provides a convenient solution for connecting an RS232-like full-duplex asynchronous serial device to any Universal Serial Bus (USB) capable host. PL2503 highly compatible drivers could simulate the traditional COM port on most operating systems allowing the existing applications based on Serial COM port to easily migrate and be made USB ready. PL2503 can also be installed using the built-in USB CDC-ACM inbox driver in Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android OS.
By taking advantage of USB bulk transfer mode, large data buffers, and automatic flow control, PL2503 is capable of achieving higher throughput compared to traditional UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) ports. The flexible baud rate generator of PL2503 can be programmed to generate any rate between 75 bps to 12M bps.
PL2503 also implements a USB Mass Storage Device (MSC) class with on-chip embedded flash memory to eliminate the need for CDROM disc to store user files and program. Aside from the Virtual COM Port, theon-chip embedded memory of the PL2503 composite device can also emulate a USB mass storage drive to store the CDC-ACM INF file for Windows installation. The PL2503 also provides an SPI interface for external SPI Flash memory to store larger size software programs and driver installer files. If the external SPI Flash is detected, the emulated mass storage device will automatically display the contents stored inside the SPI Flash instead of the on-chip embedded memory. This feature allows the customer end-product to be environmental-friendly and cost-effective.
