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Doc ument N o.: FT _001273 C learance N o.: FT DI#491

1 Introduction

The FT4232H-56Q Mini Module is a USB-serial/FIFO development module in the FTDI product range which

utilizes the FT4232H-56Q USB Hi-Speed four-port bridge chip which handles all the USB signalling and

protocols. It is ideal for development purposes to quickly prove the functionality of adding USB to a

target design. The FT4232H datasheet, DS_FT4232H, is available at http://www.ftdichip.com.

Figure 1.1 FT4232H-56Q Mini Module

The FT4232H-56Q on the Mini Module is FTDI’s 5th generation of USB devices. The FT4232H is a USB 2.0

High Speed (480Mb/s) to UART/MPSSE IC. The device features four interfaces that can be independently

configured for asynchronous or synchronous serial interfaces. Two of these have an option to

independently configure an MPSSE engine. This allows the FT4232H to operate as two UART/Bit-Bang

modes. All components used, including the FT4232H-56Q are Pb-free (RoHS compliant).

The FT4232H-56Q Mini Module connects the signals of the FT4232H-56Q IC to two 26-pin dual-row

headers which allow easy connection to PCB header sockets and ribbon cables.

The

FT4232H-56Q

Mini

Module

requires

USB

device

drivers,

available

free

from

http://www.ftdichip.com, which are used to make the FT4232H-56Q on the Mini Module appear as a

four virtual COM ports (VCP). This then allows the user to communicate with the USB interface via a

standard PC serial emulation port (TTY). Another FTDI USB driver, the D2XX driver, can also be used with

application software to directly access the FT4232H on the Mini Module through a DLL. This is illustrated

in

Figure 1.2

Figure 1.2 Using the FT4232H-56Q Mini Module