USB Communication Software Algoritm - Electronic Circuits Projects Diagrams Free

iso9001 · 13th January 2005, 05:32 PM

Hi,

I'm about to be working with a USB Uart/fifo chip from ftdichip.com, its thier FT245BM model. I'm writing my own software and they have a driver that creates a com port for the usb and allows easy access, but for what I'm doing I would MUCH rather access the device directly (which they also have a driver for)

However, I've never programmed for hardware i/o before. I'm a little curious as to how the algoritm goes (English description of what I'll need to do in the code). I'll be mostly sending a few bytes at a time (no file tranfers)... Sometimes writing to device, mostly reading from.

I see some code in thier driver regarding the read function:

Code:

FT_STATUS WINAPI FT_Read(
    FT_HANDLE ftHandle,
    LPVOID lpBuffer,
    DWORD nBufferSize,
    LPDWORD lpBytesReturned
    );

Can someone kind of explin the process of pulling info from and writing to usb devices ?

checkmate · 13th January 2005, 05:56 PM

These are all functions written by FTDI. They are not standard API. They do have documentation for their DLL here.
Their DLL is essentially only wrapper functions to access their driver.

iso9001 · 13th January 2005, 06:35 PM

I guess I'm curious as to how the whole read and write goes with buffers and whatnot.

I see the read function has:

ftHandle: pointer to the communication handle of the device to read.
lpBuffer: pointer to the buffer that receives the data from the device.
DwBytesToRead: Number of bytes to be read from the device.
lpdwBytesReturned: Pointer to a variable of type DWORD which receives the number of bytes read from the device.

ftHandle... thats the device id (?)
lpBuffer... uh, the pointer to where data is stored
DwBytesToRead... number of data bytes I suppose
lpdwBytesReturned... dunno, isnt it the same as DwBytesToRead ?

Also say I call the read()and get the data from it... when I read again, how do i know that data is new or is the same data I just read ? When does this buffer get cleared ? I read throught the manual, but 11 pages isnt exactly in depth...
[/b]

iso9001 · 14th January 2005, 02:34 AM

Ah, nevermind.... I see, there is a purge buffer function too.

Ok... well I think I can manage that. But if I go with the virtual port emulator then I can still use rs232 programs to talk with my interface...

Can someone explain to me how to talk to ports using C++ or Java (windows api maybe) ?

General alorithm is fine.

**Nigel Goodwin** · 14th January 2005, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iso9001

Ah, nevermind.... I see, there is a purge buffer function too.

Ok... well I think I can manage that. But if I go with the virtual port emulator then I can still use rs232 programs to talk with my interface...

Can someone explain to me how to talk to ports using C++ or Java (windows api maybe) ?

General alorithm is fine.

Just do a google search, you'll find loads of info about it.

bmcculla · 14th January 2005, 07:38 PM

Take a look at Silicon Labs USB controller www.silabs.com . It's a super fast 8051 + USB. They provide an API for both the host side and the Device side - No RS232 required.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

13th January 2005, 05:32 PM	(permalink)
iso9001	USB Communication Software Algoritm Hi, I'm about to be working with a USB Uart/fifo chip from ftdichip.com, its thier FT245BM model. I'm writing my own software and they have a driver that creates a com port for the usb and allows easy access, but for what I'm doing I would MUCH rather access the device directly (which they also have a driver for) However, I've never programmed for hardware i/o before. I'm a little curious as to how the algoritm goes (English description of what I'll need to do in the code). I'll be mostly sending a few bytes at a time (no file tranfers)... Sometimes writing to device, mostly reading from. I see some code in thier driver regarding the read function: Code: FT_STATUS WINAPI FT_Read( FT_HANDLE ftHandle, LPVOID lpBuffer, DWORD nBufferSize, LPDWORD lpBytesReturned ); Can someone kind of explin the process of pulling info from and writing to usb devices ?

13th January 2005, 05:56 PM	(permalink)
checkmate	These are all functions written by FTDI. They are not standard API. They do have documentation for their DLL here. Their DLL is essentially only wrapper functions to access their driver.

13th January 2005, 06:35 PM	(permalink)
iso9001	I guess I'm curious as to how the whole read and write goes with buffers and whatnot. I see the read function has: ftHandle: pointer to the communication handle of the device to read. lpBuffer: pointer to the buffer that receives the data from the device. DwBytesToRead: Number of bytes to be read from the device. lpdwBytesReturned: Pointer to a variable of type DWORD which receives the number of bytes read from the device. ftHandle... thats the device id (?) lpBuffer... uh, the pointer to where data is stored DwBytesToRead... number of data bytes I suppose lpdwBytesReturned... dunno, isnt it the same as DwBytesToRead ? Also say I call the read()and get the data from it... when I read again, how do i know that data is new or is the same data I just read ? When does this buffer get cleared ? I read throught the manual, but 11 pages isnt exactly in depth... [/b]

14th January 2005, 02:34 AM	(permalink)
iso9001	Ah, nevermind.... I see, there is a purge buffer function too. Ok... well I think I can manage that. But if I go with the virtual port emulator then I can still use rs232 programs to talk with my interface... Can someone explain to me how to talk to ports using C++ or Java (windows api maybe) ? General alorithm is fine.

14th January 2005, 07:38 PM	(permalink)
bmcculla	Take a look at Silicon Labs USB controller www.silabs.com . It's a super fast 8051 + USB. They provide an API for both the host side and the Device side - No RS232 required.