Name of the Experiment:

An overview of Parallel Port.

Objective:
To understand the functionality and pin-diagram of parallel port. Tools: DB9 Port. Parallel port Interfacing Trainer Board. Wires LEDs Resistors Wires.

Description:
A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers (personal and otherwise) for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port. Many manufacturers of personal computers and laptops consider parallel to be a legacy port and no longer include the parallel interface. For electronics hobbyists the parallel port is still often the easiest way to connect to an external circuit board. It is faster than the other common legacy port (serial port) and requires no serial-to-parallel converter, and requires far less interface logic and software than a USB target interface.

The pin outs of DB25 connector is shown in the picture below:

Figure: DB25 Connector (Parallel Port)

The lines in DB25 connector are divided into three groups, they are: 1. Data lines (data bus) 2. Control lines 3. Status lines. As the name refers, data is transferred over data lines. Control lines are used to control the peripheral, and of course, the peripheral returns status signals back to the computer through Status lines. These lines are connected to Data, Control and Status registers internally. The pin out of Parallel port is given below:

Pin No (DB25)

Pin No (36 pin)

Signal name

Direction

Register - bit

Inverted

Strobe

In/Out

Control-0

Yes

Data0

Out

Data-0

No

Data1

Out

Data-1

No

Data2

Out

Data-2

No

Data3

Out

Data-3

No

Data4

Out

Data-4

No

Data5

Out

Data-5

No

Data6

Out

Data-6

No

Data7

Out

Data-7

No

10

10

Ack

In

Status-6

No

11

11

Busy

In

Status-7

Yes

12

12

Paper-Out

In

Status-5

No

13

13

Select

In

Status-4

No

14

14

Linefeed

In/Out

Control-1

Yes

15

32

Error

In

Status-3

No

16

31

Reset

In/Out

Control-2

No

17

36

Select-Printer

In/Out

Control-3

Yes

18-25

19-30,33,17,16

Ground

Fig: Parallel Port