Serial communication parameters

Parameters used during serial communication include bits-per-character, bits-per-second (bps), baud rate, parity, and start, stop, and mark bits.

Bits-per-character
The number of bits-per-character (bpc) indicates the number of bits used to represent a single data character during serial communication.
Bits-per-second (bps)
This provides a description of the bits-per-second statistic.
Baud rate
The baud rate is the number of times per second a serial communication signal changes states; a state being either a voltage level, a frequency, or a frequency phase angle.
Parity bits
The parity bit, unlike the start and stop bits, is an optional parameter, used in serial communications to determine if the data character being transmitted is correctly received by the remote device.
Start, stop, and mark bits
The start and stop bits are used in asynchronous communication as a means of timing or synchronizing the data characters being transmitted.

Parent topic: Serial communication