Is UART Different from USART on the Arduino Uno?
Question:
UART stands for Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter, and what is used on something like the Arduino Uno for programming and various interface tasks, correct?
Alternatively, USART stands for Universal Synchronous and Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter, and is something different, correct (e.g. NOT used with Arduino Uno)?
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It seems if you look this up you get some differing answers, e.g.: https://www.electronicwings.com/arduino/usart-in-arduino-uno versus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_synchronous_and_asynchronous_receiver-transmitter
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I believe what I said in the first two sentences is correct, but I'm doing a class on Arduino serial usage so I need to be accurate!
USART in Arduino Uno | Arduino
Arduino has on-chip USART or UART which is used to communicate data serially. Using USART, we can communicate with PC/laptop or serial devices like GSM, GPS, etc.
Universal synchronous and asynchronous receiver-transmitter
A universal synchronous and asynchronous receiver-transmitter (USART, programmable communications interface or PCI) is a type of a serial interface device that can be programmed to communicate asynchronously or synchronously. See universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) for a discussion of the asynchronous capabilities of these devices.
6 Replies
You are correct. Most times USART and UART are used interchangeably, they have some minor differences. The arduino Uno makes use of UART. Other Arduino boards make use of USART
I think I read somewhere that the Uno chip is capable of USART but is largely used as UART. Thoughts?
Funny enough, the atmega328p which is the chip on the UNO makes mention of the USART not UART in its documentation. This module is capable of both synchronous and asynchronous serial communication. When you we use the Serial object in your Arduino code, you’re leveraging the asynchronous mode of the USART, effectively using it as a UART. The Arduino platform actually abstracts away the complexity, so most users think of it as UART. I think the synchronous feature is generally not used in standard Arduino sketches, which is why most references in the Arduino community refer to it as UART.
Thanks for that info. That helps clarify things. Do you have a link to the source? Guessing the ATmega328p datasheet?
I'm doing an upcoming class [https://resources.embeddedcomputing.com/series/developing-with-arduino/series_summit?utm_bmcr_source=JSCook] involving this, so I wanted to make sure I had the details correct.
It also doesn't help that this site https://www.electronicwings.com/arduino/usart-in-arduino-uno refers to USART as "Universal Serial Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter." I can see where someone would get that confused, but it shouldn't be published. Maybe I should say something to them!
USART in Arduino Uno | Arduino
Arduino has on-chip USART or UART which is used to communicate data serially. Using USART, we can communicate with PC/laptop or serial devices like GSM, GPS, etc.
you are welcome. It is really confusing most times. I will be looking forward to your classes.