FTDI releases the USB-RS232-WE cable

Future Technology Devices International Limited (FTDI) has introduced the USB-RS232-WE cable, providing easy interfacing of USB to RS232-based devices.

The 1.8m cable has a small PCB encapsulated into the USB connector, which contains an FTDI FT232R serial UART IC interface plus a RS232 level shifter to provide RS232 voltage levels.

The integrated electronics also include Tx and Rx LEDs, giving a visual indication of traffic on the cable via the transparent USB connector.

The RS232 signal end of the cable comes with tinned wire connections.

The cable can be customised on request by adding user-defined connectors.

The electronics within the cable are USB powered and USB 2.0 full-speed compliant.

It supports data transfer rates up to 1 Mbaud.

A unique USB serial number is programmed into the FT232R device, allowing each cable to support the FTDI-Chip-ID feature.

Designers can use this feature to incorporate security or password-protected file transfer.

The USB-RS232 cable requires a USB driver, which is available for free.

The cable can use these drivers to appear as a virtual COM port (VCP).

This allows the user to communicate with the USB interface via a standard PC serial emulation port (TTY).

Another FTDI USB driver, D2XX, allows a user's application software to directly access the FT232R IC on the cable through a DLL.

The cables are FCC, CE and RoHS compliant.

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