RS232 is well-known due to popularity of today’s PC’s, unlike
the RS422 and RS485. These are used in industry for control systems and data
transfers (small volumes, less than hundreds of Mb/s).
So, what is the main difference between RS 232 and RS 422 &
485? The RS 232 signals are represented by voltage levels with respect to ground.
There is a wire for each signal, together with the ground signal
(reference for voltage levels). This interface is useful for point-to-point
communication at slow speeds. For example, port COM1 in a PC can be used for a
mouse, port COM2 for a modem, etc. This is an example of point-to-point
communication: one port, one device. Due to the way the signals are connected,
a common ground is required. This implies limited cable length? About 30 to 60
meters maximum. (Main problems are interference and resistance of the cable.)
Shortly, RS 232 was designed for communication of local devices, and supports
one transmitter and one receiver.
RS422 & 485 uses a different principle: Each signal uses one
twisted pair (TP) line-two wires twisted around themselves. We’re talking
‘Balanced data transmission’, or ‘Differential voltage transmission’. Simply,
let’s label one of the TP wires ‘A’ and the other one ‘B’. Then, the signal is
inactive when the voltage at A is negative and the voltage at B is positive.
Otherwise, the signal is active, A is positive and B is negative. Of course,
the difference between the wires A and B matters. For RS 422 & 485 the
cable can be up to 1200 meters (4000 feet) long, and commonly available
circuits work at 2.5 MB/s transfer rate.
What is the difference between RS 422 and RS 485? Electrical
principle is the same both use differential transmitters with alternating
voltages 0 and 5V. However, RS is intended for point-to-point communications,
like RS 232. RS 422 is intended uses two separate TP wires, data can be
transferred in both directions simultaneously. RS 422 is often used to extend a
RS 232 line, or in industrial environments.
RS 485 is used for multiply-point communications: more devices
may be connected to a single cable- similar to e.g ETHERNET networks, which use
coaxial cable. Most RS 485 systems use Master/Slave architecture, where each
slave unit has its unique address and responds only to packets addressed to
this unit. These packets are generated by Master (e.g PC), which periodically
polls all connected salve units.