guys,
i have a project to make that will require serial to pic but will use usb converter coz laptops now have no serial com. my question is, will i have to do anyting else but buy the converter or i need to modify program. btw, i will be using PIC16f877a and VB6 for this. also it will involve controlling 50,000+ LED. i have the basic design already bu any other ideas will be truly appreciated.
USB to RS232 convertors are pretty capable handling RS232 oprations through creating virtual com port on your PC or Laptops. All you need to install it driver and plug it on you usb port then identify whih COM port number assigned to it(automatically). It is all transparent and you dont need to do any thing additional..
Using VB in your application makes things pretty simple. For serial comms handling just look in the device manager what COM number is assigned to your USB->Serial device and use it in your VB code...
No, you don't need to modifiy the code. Make the code like usual (pic to rs232) and all the rest (rs232 to usb) let your converter to handle. But the first thing to remember, you must used the same speed with your code and windows.
in my point of view i think it is better to use a flash in between the two interface because usb is much faster than the serial port and we requier to buffer data to send it to the usb use two chips and for the two communication between the usb and the serial and use the memory as the common medium between the two controllers.