The USB Serial Adapter / USB Serial converter - Generally
A USB serial adapter, also referred to as a USB serial converter or USB serial RS232 adapter is a small electronic device which can convert a USB signal to serial RS232 data signals. RS232 is the type which is in many older PCs and is referred to as a serial COM port.
A USB serial adapter / USB RS232 converter typically converts between USB and either RS232, RS485, RS422 or TCP signals, however some USB serial adapter / USB RS232 serial converter designs have other special conversion features.
Even the USB serial adapter RS232 standard is an older communication protocol it is still used by many modern USB serial adapter / USB RS232 devices in both business and consumer markets and is also often used for personal and office USB serial adapter / USB RS232 converter devices.
More recently most new computers do not contain a COM port so a USB serial adapter / USB RS232 serial converter is often used to connect many types of devices.
A USB serial adapter is a very useful device for connecting equipment such as USB serial adapter printers, scanners, scales and GPS devices, but also most USB serial business and consumer equipment. A USB serial adapter is typically either a USB serial RS232 adapter, USB serial RS485 adapter or a USB serial RS422 adapter.
Many new USB serial adapter devices are today designed with a multiple USB serial adapter RS232/RS485 and even USB serial adapter RS422 interface, which makes it very convenient since you then can use it for both RS232 and RS485 products.
The USB serial adapter protocol has been around for many years and is a very reliable protocol. The USB serial adapter is usually used in industrial, office and business environments however also often as a consumer product for connecting USB serial products to personal computers. The USB serial adapter RS485 is most often only used in industrial environments, labs and similar facilities since the USB serial adapter RS485 protocol is very useful in these environments.
The USB serial adapter / USB serial converter is made in a variety of models and types, the standard non-isolated USB serial adapter is most commonly used in business, office and laboratory environments. The isolated USB serial adapter / USB serial converter is often used in industrial environments due to its resistance to voltage spikes and ground loops.
