hardware, communications (Or "com port") A connector on a
computer to which you can attach a
serial line connected to
peripherals which communicate using a serial (bit-stream)
protocol. The most common type of serial port is a 25-pin
D-type connector carrying
EIA-232 signals. Smaller
connectors (e.g. 9-pin
D-type) carrying a subset of EIA-232
which handles the conversion between serial and parallel data.
In the days before bit-mapped displays, and today on
multi-user systems, the serial port was used to connect one
modems and other serial peripherals. Two computers
connected together via their serial ports, possibly via
(1995-01-12)