Why is "parallel" port called the "parallel" port? What is so "parallel" about it?

[fatbaby]

???

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

lots of wires all transmitting data in parallel. unlike USB or firewire which are only a couple wires, and usually only one of them is for data (i think, might be 2 or something, i'm just giving you the general idea here )

 

[strider7]

parallel communication between a computer and a printer.

 

[jcg]

parallel means data(1's & 0's) is transmitted over several wires at once,
serial usually means the data comes thru 1 bit at a time,
thus parallel is faster.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

<< parallel means data(1's & 0's) is transmitted over several wires at once,
serial usually means the data comes thru 1 bit at a time,
thus parallel is faster. >>


parallel is not in itself faster than serial. rambus ram is serial, firewire and usb are serial, serial ATA will be serial, i could go on and on....they're all exponentially faster than a parallel port.

 

[JavaMomma]

and a parallel port is faster then a serial port

 

[spanky]

the two rows of pins are parallel

 

[BFG10K]

Parallel provides lower latency while serial can be clocked higher to potentially have higher transfer rates.

 

[NozlerAtClemson]

Serial transmits one way at a time. Parallel can send data in both directions at the same time, hence "Parallel".

 

[bozo1]

<< Serial transmits one way at a time. Parallel can send data in both directions at the same time, hence "Parallel". >>


That's not exactly true. Serial sends one bit at a time down a pipe. Parallel has multiple pipes and can send multiple bits of data at the same time.

Parallel can be unidirectional or bidirection and can run at different speeds depending on the type of parallel interface.
Serial can also run at different speeds depending on the type of interface.

Parallel & serial are just two different ways of wiring things. They can be implemented in many different ways.

In the PC world, parallel has become synonymous with the interface used by printers, some scanners, anything that uses the 25-pin connector on the back of your computer. Serial has become synonymous with the interface used by external modems, serial mice, the 9-pin connector on the back of your computer.

There are many other things in your computer that use a serial type connection - your mouse, USB, firewire. There are many things that use a parallel type connection - your hard drive, your floppy.