No-one ever got fired for using a chip from FTDI, but there are not cheap. Does anyone have experience, preferably in commercial products, of the following...
CH3xx series
PL series chips from Prolific
MCP22xx series from Microchip
CP2xxx series from Silicon Labs
GL8xx from Genesys
Chips that are as plug-and-play with modern PCs as possible are to be preferred.
Started using CP2101 back in 2001 ish. That went obsolete but CP2102 has been an excellent replacement and have used it ever since.
It took a long time but finally Windows in the guise of Windows 10 has drivers built-in.
<edit> A brave man could make his own using ATmega16U2.
<edit> A brave man could make his own using ATmega16U2.
At twice the price of the dedicated chip.
Note that newer FTDI chips like the ft231x are significantly cheaper than the old ft232r* chips...
At twice the price of the dedicated chip.
OK agreed. So a really brave man chasing the lowest cost would choose an ATmegaAVR or perhaps XMEGA with built-in USB hardware instead of using a separate chip.
I only have experience of this on PIC24 where the Microchip Provided USB stack looks like a Generic CDC. So as with CP2102, no driver install is required for Windows10.
There is a caveat with this design in that when spending too long at a debugging breakpoint; Windows bombs out your COM port because you've been unresponsive for some time.
... and have used it ever since.
It took a long time but finally Windows in the guise of Windows 10 has drivers built-in.
edit :
WCID arrived with Windows 8; in addition to WinUSB are third party drivers.
WCID Devices · pbatard/libwdi Wiki · GitHub
Classic USB Bridges - USB to UART Bridge - Silicon Labs
USBXpress USB Bridges - USB-to-UART bridge controllers - Silicon Labs
Pololu - CP2102N USB-to-Serial Adapter Carrier
What is new with Serial in Windows 10 - Microsoft Tech Community - 270855
[1/4 page]
Now devices that report these compatible IDs:
[USB CDC ACM]
… including popular prototyping boards like Arduinos – just work with our built-in driver.
I only have experience of this on PIC24 where the Microchip Provided USB stack looks like a Generic CDC.
Recent USB PIC have ACT with enhanced UART (FBRG, auto-baud); can move functions into a USB PIC from an AVR (advantage of USB MCU over USB UART)
So as with CP2102, no driver install is required for Windows10.
p-star-examples/usb-to-serial.X at master · pololu/p-star-examples · GitHub
Pololu - P-Star Programmable Controllers
PIC18F25K50 - Microcontrollers and Processors
Active Clock Tuning - Developer Help
...
For applications where the USB interface may be disconnected and reconnected while a COM port is still open, MaxLinear provides the XRUSB1 Windows driver that eliminates the need to close the COM port in the host application.
...
... and the GPIOs are readily tailored for enhanced functionality.
...
due to CH340G IC vendor..... | AVR Freaks
XR21x14x Universal Async Receiver Transmitters - MaxLinear | Mouser
CH3xx series
PL series chips from Prolific
CP2xxx series from Silicon Labs
The CH340 has new version CH343, claiming higher baud rates of 6Mbd http://special.wch.cn/zh_cn/prod...
The PL2303 has newest version as PL2303G series, claims up to 12MBd, I have some PL2303GS coming from Amazon I'll test this week.
https://prolificusa.com/product-...
The CP2102 is newest as CP2102N, which is a better performer than the CP2102, tho many Asian boards still use CP2102.
Silabs also have a EFM8UB3 48MHz 40k Flash mcu, that can host a USB-Serial
Also good, but hard to get, is the EXAR XR21V1410 which can set up to 12MBd
an important criterion for selecting a device may be the ability to have unique USB serial numbers if multiple devices are in use. On the CP2102 you can program your own serial number, the CH340 is not programmable and has no unique serial number.
PL2303, and FT230RL have both been cloned to the point where vendors have stopped supporting some versions (PL23xx) and/or specifically included code that detects clones and performs badly or not at all (FT232R)... I'm somewhat inclined to avoid them for that reason :-(
I like CH340E MODULES from Aliexpress - USB/Serial chip, USB connector, and a couple of LEDs, all in a tiny, cheap module. But I'm not sure I consider the supply "stable" enough to put on a commercial product. (My favorite Aliexpress vendor seems to have abandoned "less reliable" shipping, which means that their cheapest shipping option is now about $50... :-( )
