About FT232RL

The FT232R is the latest device to be added to FTDI?s range of USB UART interface Integrated Circuit Devices. The FT232R is a USB to serial UART interface with optional clock generator output, and the new FTDIChip-ID? security dongle feature. In addition, asynchronous and synchronous bit bang interface modes are available. USB to serial designs using the FT232R have been further simplified by fully integrating the external EEPROM, clock circuit and USB resistors onto the device.

The FT232R adds two new functions compared with its predecessors, effectively making it a "3-in-1" chip for some application areas. The internally generated clock (6MHz, 12MHz, 24MHz, and 48MHz) can be brought out of the device and used to drive a microcontroller or external logic. A unique number (the FTDIChip-ID?) is burnt into the device during manufacture and is readable over USB, thus forming the basis of a security dongle which can be used to protect customer application software from being copied.

Single chip USB to asynchronous serial data transfer interface.

Entire USB protocol handled on the chip - No USB-specific firmware programming required.

UART interface support for 7 or 8 data bits, 1 or 2 stop bits and odd / even / mark / space / no parity.

Fully assisted hardware or X-On / X-Off software handshaking.

Data transfer rates from 300 baud to 3 Megabaud (RS422 / RS485 and at TTL levels) and 300 baud to 1 Megabaud (RS232).

In-built support for event characters and line break condition.

New USB FTDIChip-ID? feature.

New configurable CBUS I/O pins.

Auto transmit buffer control for RS485 applications.

Transmit and receive LED drive signals.

New 48MHz, 24MHz,12MHz, and 6MHz clock output signal Options for driving external MCU or FPGA.

FIFO receive and transmit buffers for high data throughput.

256 Byte receive buffer and 128 Byte transmit buffer utilising buffer smoothing technology to allow for high data throughput.

Adjustable receive buffer timeout.

Synchronous and asynchronous bit bang mode interface options with RD# and WR# strobes.

New CBUS bit bang mode option.

Integrated 1024 bit internal EEPROM for I/O configuration and storing USB VID, PID, serial number and product description strings.

Device supplied preprogrammed with unique USB serial number.

Support for USB suspend / resume.

Support for bus powered, self powered, and high-power bus powered USB configurations.

Integrated 3.3V level converter for USB I/O .

Integrated level converter on UART and CBUS for interfacing to 5V - 1.8V Logic.

True 5V / 3.3V / 2.8V / 1.8V CMOS drive output and TTL input.

High I/O pin output drive option.

Integrated USB resistors.

Integrated power-on-reset circuit.

Fully integrated clock - no external crystal, oscillator, or resonator required.

Fully integrated AVCC supply filtering - No separate AVCC pin and no external R-C filter required.

UART signal inversion option.

USB bulk transfer mode.

3.3V to 5.25V Single Supply Operation.

Low operating and USB suspend current.

Low USB bandwidth consumption.

UHCI / OHCI / EHCI host controller compatible.

USB 2.0 Full Speed compatible.

-40°C to 85°C extended operating temperature range.

Drivers are available which allow FTDI devices to work with the following operating systems:

Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 x64

Windows 8

Windows 8 x64

Windows Server2012

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows 7

Windows 7 x64

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 x64

Windows Vista

Windows Vista x64

Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 x64

Windows XP

Windows XP x64

Windows ME

Windows 98

Linux

Mac OS X

Mac OS 9

Mac OS 8

Windows CE.NET (Version 4.2 and greater)

Android

Windows RT

Support for WinCE7.0
Initial functional testing conducted by FTDI has shown that the FTDI drivers function as expected on Windows CE 7.0

Support for older versions of Windows Desktop

NOTE: Microsoft have ended support for certifying XP and VISTA through their WHCK test program. As such current builds will still work on XP and VISTA but are not Microsoft certified.

Differences in Driver API

For most of these operating systems two types of driver are available: Virtual COM Port (VCP) drivers and direct (D2XX) drivers. The VCP driver emulates a standard PC serial port such that the USB device may be communicated with as a standard RS232 device. The D2XX driver allows direct access to a USB device via a DLL interface.

To locate the drivers you want to install for a device, select which of the driver types you wish to use (VCP or D2XX) and then locate the appropriate operating systems. With the exception of Windows 98 and Windows ME, all devices are supported in each driver package.

If a VCP driver is required for Android please refer to the following application note: TN 132 Adding FTDI Devices VCP Driver Support to Android