Serial Star, a 4 in 1 USB Serial and I2C Converter

Hi all! Here’s one of the last board I design the last year. On 2016, I develop the Dual USB Serial and I2C Converter board. Although this board works fine, it has a couple of lacks. First one, is that to use the both converters, you need two free USB ports. Is a minor problem today with USB hubs, but you need the hub and also two USB wires. And the other problem is that this board uses mini-USB connectors. Of course today you can still find it, but aren’t as common as the micro-USB wires. For this two reasons, I decide to upgrade the board, add the micro – USB connector and put a USB hub inside it. Because I choose a 4-port USB hub, I use also 4 USB serial converters. With some addons, you can select power supply value (5V, 3V3), serial levels (TTL, RS232) and GPIO functions in an independent way for each converter. So, let’s see how works this USB Serial Star, a 4 in 1 USB to Serial and I2C Converter.

Serial Star, a 4 in 1 USB Serial and I2C Converter

  • THE HARDWARE

This board is basically a 4-port USB hub with 4 USB to Serial and I2C bridges and some addons. The USB hub is the TUSB2046I, from Texas Instruments. The USB Serial bridges are the MCP2221A from Microchip, the same reference I use on the past. First of all. the schematic of the board, you can download here: EEL_SERIAL_STAR_V1.0. The schematic is simple, here’s a brief description of each page:

  •  Page 1: Main diagram. Interconnection of all the blocks of the scheme. Here’s the micro – USB connector, and also a 2.54mm header connector with the USB signals. This is reserved for use with a soldering cable or in the case the hand soldering of the micro – USB connector fails.

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About The Author

Ibrar Ayyub

I am an experienced technical writer with a Master's degree in computer science from BZU Multan University. I have written for various industries, mainly home automation and engineering. My writing style is clear and simple, and I am skilled in using infographics and diagrams. I am a great researcher and am able to present information in a well-organized and logical manner.

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