Programming the Parallel Port: Interfacing the PC for Data Acquisition and Process Control [Paperback]

Dhananjay Gadre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 1998

Why purchase expensive add-on cards or bus interfaces when you can develop effective and economical data acquisition and process controls using C programs? Using the under-employed printer adapter (that is, the parallel port of your PC), you can turn your computer into a powerful tool for developing microprocessor applications. Learn how to build a complete data acquisition system and such varied applications as a CCD camera controller, a photometer interface, and a wave form generator. The book also covers the enhanced parallel port (EPP), the extended capabilities port (ECP), interfacing analog-to-digital converters, and data acquisition under Linux. This extraordinary software approach to interfacing through the parallel port will be especially appealing to programmers involved in control systems design and device development, as well as to those who work with real-time and embedded systems. ;

Key topics include; the Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP), Extended Communications Port (ECP), Analog/Digital Converters (ADC and DAC), adding bits to the parallel port, hosting an EPROM emulator, connecting to an external microprocessor, and generating digital waveforms.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dhananjay V. Gadre wrote these parallel port programs while developing instruments for the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Ganeshkind, India. He is currently on leave from the IUCAA to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Idaho. Gadre's publication credits include Dr. Dobb's Journal, Embedded Systems Programming magazine, Electronics World, Computers in Physics, and EDN.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: CMP; 1 edition (January 16, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879305134
• ISBN-13: 978-0879305130
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,508,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dhananjay V. Gadre (New Delhi, India) completed his MSc(Electronic
Science) from University of Delhi and M.Engr (Computer Engineering)
from University of Idaho, USA. In his professional career of more than
21 years, he has taught at the SGTB Khalsa College, University of
Delhi, worked as a Scientific Officer at the Inter University Centre
for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune and since 2001, he is
with the Electronics and Communication Engineering Division, Netaji
Subhas Institute of Technology, New Delhi, currently as an Associate
Professor.

He is also associated with the global Fablab network and is
a faculty at the Fab Academy. Professor Gadre is the author of several
professional articles and four books published by international
publishers such as McGraw Hill International and Elsevier. One of his
books has been translated in Chinese and another one in Greek. He is
a Technology Angel with the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research, Government of India, helping innovators in India, assessing
and certifying technical proposals. He is a licensed radio amateur
with a call sign VU2NOX and hopes to design and build an amateur radio
satellite some day.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great I/O interface, March 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Programming the Parallel Port: Interfacing the PC for Data Acquisition and Process Control (Paperback)

Don't let the first title word 'Programming' mislead you that this book is only for Programmers! The software diskette accompanying this book only enhances the overall viability of Mr. Gadres' remote data acquisition techniques. The sub-title 'Interfacing the PC for Data Acquisition and Process Control' is a broad claim. His experiments more than backup the claim.

Generally speaking, one would have to research many books in order to centralize the concept of say, reading the temperature of a device, and displaying while storing the value on a PC laptop.

This book starts out with fundamental logic gates for the Novice and smoothly moves ahead into deeper water. An in-depth section on the Enhanced Parallel Port and its' attributes was very educational for me. It is when Mr. Gadre puts his practical A/D circuits to full use, that one can appreciate the work done here. The included software helped me jump right into the operation stage. My favorite part of the book was the idea of utilizing a separate Micro Processor chip to continually perform all of the real time scanning, and using the parallel port to 'catch' the last pre-processed data. This removes a lot of PC overhead and prevents data synchronization loss. I will probably use this method for my home PLC.

All program source codes in 'C' are included with the book. Although Linux was his OS choice, I used my Visual C without any major problems.

Overall, this is an excellent mixture of software and hardware. I recommend this book for any person planning to work in the Embedded Controller Industry. The concepts are solid and are good reference materials.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for C programmers, March 1, 1999

By 

Hardware Guy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Programming the Parallel Port: Interfacing the PC for Data Acquisition and Process Control (Paperback)

This book is full of practical examples in C for interfacing hardware with the printer port. Examples: a speech digitizer, parallel break out box, photometer, data acquisition system, an EPROM emulator, programming an AT89C2051, a waveform generator, and even a Linux data acquisition system with a web-based display!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What your PC must do to sieze the world by the bits., April 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Programming the Parallel Port: Interfacing the PC for Data Acquisition and Process Control (Paperback)

This very up-to-date handbook reveals little-known secrets of PC hardware and the software needed to control the outside world with a PC. Suitable background in electronics is given for the book to be used as a textbook, yet the approach is that of a helpful cookbook. Going beyond the PC, the important topic of microcontrollers is addressed. Best of all, important problems in data measurement using PCs can be addressed with very inexpensive hardware easily built (a complete novice might need a Radio Shack style guide to how to do soldering). Software is included in source code form on disk, an added bonus. Reading this book won't get you an EE degree but it might be the next best thing.