Abstract: A computer peripheral tester includes a central processing unit and a memory for storing peripheral test data and control program instructions. A keypad input and display are connected to the central processing unit. A serial communication interface converts parallel data to and from the central processing units to and from serial data. A parallel communication interface interfaces the central processing unit to a computer peripheral for parallel data transfer. A connector is mounted on the computer peripheral tester for attaching the computer peripheral tester to the data communication cable of a computer peripheral. A serial data communication configuration circuit, responsive to the central processing unit, configures the connector to transmit and receive serial data with respect to the computer peripheral under test.

Abstract: An asynchronous buffered interface for interconnecting a data processing apparatus adapted to communicate in serially coded ASCII data format and a terminal comprising a printer and a keyboard, both of which are adapted for data communication in parallel format.