:sl: bro,
does anyone know how peripherals communicate with computers, like what type of data do they store and transfer.
Peripherals communicate with the computer using "ports". There are two types of ports on a computer,
serial ports and
parallel ports.
In serial ports, the data is transferred serially, one bit (0 or 1) at a time. Parallel ports come in different sizes. Commonly used serial ports are USB (Universal Serial Bus) and RS-232. Printer port is the common Parallel port. You can check
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_port_(hardware) for more info.
Usually there are
handshake signals involved along with the actual data (data is only 8 bits at a time). Handshaking may be used to negotiate parameters that are acceptable to equipment and systems at both ends of the communication channel, including, but not limited to,
information transfer rate, coding
alphabet,
parity,
interrupt procedure, and other
protocol or hardware features.
For storing the data, most of the devices have built-in memory in which they store the data 8 bits at a time. Some devices might store 16 bit data also.
For transferring the data, there are
buses involved. A Bus is a group of parallel wires connected between two components inside the device or computer.
The ports of any device usually has
buffers to store data temporarily while the data is being read or sent by the other device.
Hope this helps. You can click on the links to read more about them. If anything not clear, feel free to ask.
:w: