This USB-to-serial adapter is a breakout board for the Silicon Labs CP2102N USBXpress USB-to-UART bridge, and it is a great solution for connecting microcontroller projects and other logic-level serial devices to a personal computer. The tiny unit measures only 0.6″ × 0.95″ including its Micro-USB connector. It offers several options for accessing the data, control, and GPIO pins on the CP2102N, all of which are made available on a 0.1″ spacing.
This board uses 3.3 V signal levels by default, but the signal pins can tolerate higher voltages, allowing the adapter to be used with 5 V systems that see 3.3 V as a logic high. The green LED on the SUSPEND line indicates an active USB connection when lit.
The adapter looks like a standard virtual serial port (COM port) to the computer’s operating system, which means it can be used with any software designed to work with a serial port (even a legacy RS-232 port). The CP2102N is a full-speed USB 2.0 device and allows baud rates of up to 3 Mbps. Drivers are available from Silicon Labs for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Linux, and Mac OS X.
This product requires a USB A to Micro-B cable (not included) to connect to a computer.
Specifications
Dimensions: 0.6″ × 0.95″ including connector
USB standard: USB 2.0 (full speed)
Connector: USB Micro-B
Logic voltage level: 3.3 V (5 V tolerant)
Supported baud rates: 300 bps to 3 Mbps
Supply current: 15 mA
Pinout
Pin
Type
Function
VDD
Power
3.3 V voltage regulator output
VBUS
Power
USB bus voltage (5 V)
GND
Power
Ground
RST
In
Device reset
TX
Out
Asynchronous serial data transmit (idle high)
RX
In
Asynchronous serial data receive
CTS
In
“Clear to send” control input (often used with RTS)
RTS
Out
“Ready to send” control output (often used with CTS)
DSR
In
"Data set ready" control input (active low) (often used with DTR)
DTR
Out
"Data terminal ready" control output (active low) (often used with DSR)
DCD
In
"Data carrier detect" control input (active low)
RI
In
"Ring indicator" control input (active low)
SUSPEND
Out
Driven high when in USB suspend state
SUSPEND
Out
Driven low when in USB suspend state (connected to green LED)
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