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Author | strongerHuang
WeChat Public Account | strongerHuang
In the past, computers commonly came with a UART serial port. However, modern computers generally do not have serial ports configured. To use serial port functionality, you typically need a USB to serial hardware module.
Virtual serial ports (virtual COM ports) are something many people are familiar with; they are software tools that simulate physical serial interfaces. They completely replicate the functionality of hardware COM interfaces and are recognized by the operating system and serial applications as real ports.
In real life, virtual serial ports have many uses. For example: when your application detects serial input data, it facilitates debugging. Additionally, multiple applications can communicate via serial ports.
In this article, we will share several excellent virtual serial port simulators.
Free Virtual Serial Ports
Provided by HDD, Free Virtual Serial Ports focuses on simulating custom plug-and-play serial and I/O ports connected by a 16550 UART.
This free virtual null modem emulator software allows you to create virtual copies of hardware null modem cables using DB-25 or DE-9 connectors. Two RS-232 DTE devices can communicate with each other without a modem or any other DCE. The stability of this RS-232 null modem emulator application is facilitated by the fact that it operates only in user mode.
Virtual Serial Port Driver
Virtual Serial Port Driver (VSPD) is a software package developed by Eltima Software that functions as a virtual COM port emulator on Windows machines.The software allows you to create virtual COM ports that can be paired using virtual null modem cables.Each virtual serial port you create will communicate with your serial applications as if they were actual physical ports.
https://www.virtual-serial-port.org/vspd-post-download.html
VSPD is a paid tool but offers a 14-day free trial with full functionality. Of course, I believe everyone has ways to use it “for free”.
More powerful than it is Virtual Serial Port Driver PRO, with the following differences:
FabulaTech’s Virtual Serial Port Kit is a software tool used to simulate serial ports.The created RS232 virtual ports can be connected using virtual null modem cables.The functionality of the virtual COM interface is the same as that of physical serial ports.
When data is transmitted to one of the virtual ports, it is simultaneously available for the virtual interface on the other end. Since the application runs as a Windows system service, all virtual RS232 ports created on the system are available even before user login. This ensures they are recreated after a system restart.
Virtual Serial Ports Emulator
The next item on our list of virtual COM port software is the Virtual Serial Ports Emulator developed by Eterlogic.It is designed for software engineers who need to develop serial applications, allowing them to create, test, and debug applications and devices that use serial interfaces.
Some advantages of this program and port virtualization include that the same device can be opened by multiple applications, and you can create paired virtual serial ports.
Serial interfaces can also be shared simultaneously by multiple applications, and COM interfaces can achieve port sharing over TCP on a local network.
This program supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32/64), and Windows 7.
A free license is available for 32-bit platforms, while a paid version is required for the 64-bit version.
COM Port Data Emulator helps users simulate the transmission of data streams through serial ports, such as Ethernet devices or serial ports.The program captures the data stream and converts it into packets of RS232, TCP/IP, or UDP protocols.It then forwards these packets over the network.
This serial port emulator can randomly generate text test data or read data from text or binary files. Subsequently, this data will be sent to the port for the necessary number of tests to achieve the desired results. The software can act as either a server or client in an IP network. It supports full-duplex mode for serial and RS232 ports, as well as flow control.
The COM port emulator features logging capabilities to analyze serial data flow and the port’s response to specific data streams. Network administrators can use this tool to identify errors and dynamically monitor line status. The COM port emulator can control serial communication test parameters via baud rate, data bits, parity, and other methods required by the program.
Users can perform serial port simulation on any serial device using RS232/RS485/RS422 protocols. This includes a range of industrial controllers and monitoring devices. Users can even use z-modem cables to simulate serial data transmission with another computer.
This solution is an open-source kernel-mode virtual serial port driver that can simulate serial communication interfaces.Using this program, you can create COM interfaces that work with device emulation applications.Essentially, this means you can connect a device emulation application to one end of a serial port pair, while the other end is occupied by a Windows application that needs to communicate with the device.
An example in practice is sharing fax over an IP network. You simply need to connect the Windows Fax application to the modem using a pair of virtual serial ports.
Visit the developer’s website for more detailed information about these software solutions. There are definitely differences between options, including some being free and others requiring a financial investment. In some cases, you may need to disclose the source code to use them for application development.
The above are several Windows virtual serial ports; if you are using virtual serial ports, you might want to give them a try.
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