Serial Communications Overview (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)
1/6/2010
Serial port support for Windows Embedded CE enables communications with other computers, printers, modems, or Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites over a serial connection.
Serial I/O is the simplest form of communication supported by Windows Embedded CE. It is used when a direct, one-to-one connection exists between two devices. Serial I/O can occur over various hardware connections, but most devices use serial cables or a PC Card device, such as a modem or infrared (IR) transceiver. Exchanging data over a serial cable is similar to reading from or writing to a file.
The standard Windows-based desktop functions for serial communications can be used to open, close, and manipulate serial ports, transmit and receive data, and manage the connection.
Feature Summary
The following table shows OS design information for serial communications.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
Dependencies |
None |
Hardware considerations |
Serial port and/or IR port |
Modules and Components
The following table shows the components and modules that implement serial communications.
| Item | Module | Component |
|---|---|---|
Serial port support |
coredll |
serdev |
Implementation Considerations
The following table shows the Sysgen variables that implement serial port support.
| Sysgen variable | Description |
|---|---|
SYSGEN_SERDEV |
When this variable is set, serial port support is included in the run-time image. |
Application Development Topics
IrCOMM Driver Registry Settings
Serial Communications Reference