Editing 16550 UART (section)

== Features ==
Main features of the 16550 include:
* The ability to convert data from serial to parallel, and from parallel to serial, using [[shift register]]s. 
* An on-chip bit rate ([[baud]] rate) generator to control transmit and receive data rate. 
* Handshake lines for control of an external [[modem]], controllable by software. 
* An [[interrupt]] function to the host [[microprocessor]].
* An on-chip FIFO [[buffer (computer science)|buffer]] for both incoming and outgoing data; this gives the host system more time to respond to an interrupt generated by the UART, without loss of data.

Both the [[computer hardware]] and [[software]] interface of the 16550 are backward compatible with the earlier [[8250 UART]] and [[16450 UART]]. The current version (since 1995) by [[Texas Instruments]] which bought National Semiconductor is called the 16550D.<ref name="upgrpc"/>

The 16550A and newer is pin-compatible with the 16450, but the Microsoft diagnostics program ([[Microsoft Diagnostics|MSD]]) supplied with MS-DOS 6.x, Windows 9x, Windows Me, and Windows 2000 often report the 16450 chip as an 8250 chip.<ref name="upgrpc"/>