Introduction to UART, Meaning, Working, Models, and Uses

Hello, readers welcome to the new tutorial. Here we will learn Introduction to UART. The full form of UART is a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter. It is a circuit configuration used in microcontrollers and not unlike the SPI and I2c that are used as communication modules. Its basic function is to send and get the data in serial combination. It finest configuration uses 2 wires to send the data among the devices.

It is mostly employed in full duplex serial communication systems. It is a large-scale integration board that is created to perform asynchronous communication. It helps send and get from one device to another. Here we will cover the different points about the UART and its practical configuration. So let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Introduction to UART

UART is a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter. It is a hardware-configured board positioned in the circuit of microcontrollers.

The basic operation of this module is to transform the coming and sending data in the series binary system through the process.
It gets the eight-bit data in series form and transforms the parallel configuration through the use of series-to-parallel transformation and parallel data gets through the CPU transform through the use of series-to-parallel transformation.
This data is exited in modulating and sending based on the baud rate.
There are different protocols are used to get high-speed communication such as SPI and USB. For cases when high-speed data transmission is not needed then UART is preferred.
It is less expensive communication having one transmitter and receiver. It uses only two wires as transmitter and receiver.
UART can be connected to the computer through a USB TTL converter.

UART Block Diagram

The main components of UART are the transmitter and receiver. The parts of the transmitter are transmitted hold registers. shift register and control logic.

On the other side receiver has a hold register, shift register, and control logic.
These two have a common configuration of a baud rate generator
The speed produced by the baud rate generator defines the data sending and receiving speed of the transmitter and receiver.
Some data bytes exist in the transmit hold register for sending.

Working of UART

USRT sends data and gets it from the data bus. Data bust sends data to UART through use of external modules such as computer USB etc.
Data is sent through the use of the data bus to UART in parallel combination. When data is received at the UART the start bit, parity bit, and stop bit is added to make the data packet.
The data packet is sent at output pin Tx in the form of bit-by-bit.

Receiving UART do reading of the data packet get at Rx pin through bit by bit
At receiving UART data is converted in the data in parallel form and eliminates the start parity and stop bits.
At the end receiving UART sends the data packet in a parallel configuration to data but the receiving point
UART transmitted data is configured in the packets form and every packet consists of one start bit five to nine data bits with one to two stops bits and a parity bit as an optional

How UART Transmission Performed

Data is received in parallel configuration at the UART
After that at transmitting UART start bit parity and stop bits are added to a data frame.
Now complete packet is transmitted through a series of combinations from transmitting UART to receiving UART. Receiving UART makes samples of data lines at the defined baud rate.
At the receiving UART start, parity and stop bits are eliminated through data form
Receiving UART transforms the series data again I the parallel and sends it to the data bus at the receiving point

UART Applications

It is used to make connections among the different PCs

It used for communication in the GPRS GPS satellite and wifi boards
It used to work as a transmitter and receiver in embedded modules

UART Advantages

Its main advantages are discussed here
Easy to configure module
configured of data packets can be varied
It used two wires as the send and receiver
There is no use of a clock signal

UART DisAdvantages

The size of the data frame can not be enhanced from nine bits
It cannot connect with other modules
The baud rate is also limited

UART Models

16550 UART

The 16550 UART is an older and commonly used type of UART. It comes with FIFO buffers that increase data transfer efficiency by storing different bytes before data transmission

UART with DMA

Some types of UART modules have DMA configuration. DMA helps data to transfer between the memory unit and UART without the use of the CPU. it offloads the CPU from handling data transferring provides best multitasking operations.

Bluetooth UART modules

this type of UART comes with Bluetooth for wireless serial communication. It has compatibility with Bluetooth stack features and provdie easy wireless communication between devices.

USB-to-UART bridge

This type of UART transforms USB signals into UART signals helping devices with USB interfacing to communicate with UART. This configuration is used for applications where a USB connection is needed.

CAN vs UART

For 2 to 3-component systems, UART is a low-cost option to use. But for advanced e-bikes that have many devices and latest features, CAN is used.
Can used due to its flexible nature, ease of use, and features to handle complicated systems and provide reliable communications.

UART vs I2C vs SPI

UART is a physical circuit like the I2C and SPI protocol.
SPI and I2C use master/slave for device connection and data-sending features
UART communicates with 2 UART devices for data transmission. It does not operate with a clock so it needs the baud rate of every UART in the range of ten percent with each other to avoid data loss.
UART has some same features as I2C and SPI protocol. Such as I2C and UART use 2 wire interfacing for communication and are best for low-speed features.
UART and I2C are error-checking features that help to ensure data quality, I2C uses ACK/NACK bit, and UART works on parity bit for differentiating changes in data during transmission.
UART and SPI supported full duplex protocol for communication and did not support multi-master.
While the speed of SPI is higher than UART and I2C.
In computer and microcontroller applications UART is used for device-to-device communication.

USART vs. UART

	UART	USART
Mode	Full duplex	Half duplex
Signal count	2 (Tx and Rx)	4
Data rate	Based on the transmitter and receiver	According to clock pulse stream on the XCK pin

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FAQs

What are the applications of UART?

UART is used in different applications, like microcontrollers embedded systems, and computer devices. At the core, it comes with serial transmission data, where bits are sent one by one without a shared clock signal between the sender and receiver.

What type of signal is UART?

The basic UART system offers robust, moderate speed, full duplex communication with 3 signals. TX Rx (received serial data), and ground

What are the advantages of UART?

bidirectional.
full-duplex.
no clock signal due to asynchronous.
Error check with the use of the parity bit.
It has a configuration of Data format and transmission speeds

What are UARTs used for?

Embedded systems, microcontrollers, and computers use UART as a type of device-to-device hardware communication protocol. UART comes with two wires for transmitting and receiving ends.

Which is most commonly used UART?

The Intel 8253, 8254 and 8259 are timers and Intel 8250 is a UART which is commonly used.

Is UART used for Bluetooth?

Bluetooth UART services help other devices like smartphones exchange data that is needed with a micro bit in a small configuration

What are the characteristics of UART?

The UART component supported a 9-bit addressing mode having hardware address detection, also TX output enables the signal to enable the TX transceiver at the time of transmissions.
The component offers configuration supported with data bits stop bits, hardware flow control, and parity generation and detection.

What are UART devices examples?

The UART is a single IC used for serial communications on a computer or peripherical device serial port. One or more UART peripherals are configured in microcontroller chips. Specialized UARTs employed for automobiles, smart cards and SIMs.