Gp slotPORTS AND EXPENSION SLOTS

PORT:
In computer networking, the term port can refer to either physical or virtual connection points. Port resembles a plug-in or connection commonly found on the back of a computer. A port serves as an interface between the computer and other computers or peripheral devices. A port is a specialized outlet on a piece of equipment to which a plug or cable connects. The term "port" is derived from a nedelands woord poort (gate, entrance and door).

Physical Shape:
Hardware ports may be physically male or female, but female ports are much more common. Computer ports in common use cover a wide variety of shapes such as
Round (PS/2) Rectangular (FireWire) Square (Telephone plug) Trapezoidal (D-Sub the old printer port was a DB-25)

There is some standardization to physical properties and function. For instance, most computers have a keyboard port (currently a round DIN-like outlet referred to as PS/2), into which the keyboard is connected.

Electrical Signal Transfer:

Electronically, ports can almost always be divided into two groups based on the signal transfer; Serial ports, send and receive one bit at a time via a single wire pair (Ground and +/-).

 Parallel ports, send multiple bits at the same time over several sets of wires.

After ports are connected, they typically require handshaking, where transfer type, transfer rate, and other necessary information are shared before data is sent.

Hot-swappable ports can be connected while equipment is

running. Almost all ports on personal computers are hotswappable.

Plug-and-play ports are designed so that the connected devices

automatically start handshaking as soon as the hot-swapping is done. USB ports and FireWire ports are plug-and-play.

Auto-detection ports are usually plug-and-play, but they offer

another type of convenience. An auto-detect port may automatically determine what kind of device has been attached, but it also determines what purpose the port itself should have e.g.

some sound cards allow plugging in several different types of audio speakers. Some auto-detect ports can even switch between input and output based on context.

As of 2006, manufacturers have nearly standardized colors

associated with ports on personal computers, although there are no guarantees.
Orange, purple, or grey: Keyboard PS/2 Green: Mouse PS/2 Blue or magenta: Parallel printer DB-25 Amber: Serial DB-25 or DB-9 Pastel pink: Microphone 1/8" stereo (TRS) minijack Pastel green: Speaker 1/8" stereo (TRS) minijack

FireWire ports used with video equipment (among other devices) can be either 4-pin or 6-pin. The two extra conductors in the 6-pin connection carry electrical power. This is why a self-powered device such as a camcorder often connects with a cable that is 4-pins on the camera side and 6-pins on the computer side, the two power conductors simply being ignored. This is also why laptop computers usually have only 4-pin FireWire ports, as they cannot provide enough power to meet requirements for devices needing the power provided by 6-pin connections.

Types of Ports:
There are many type of port few of it is as follows; Ethernet Ports:
Ethernet is the most common type of connection computers use in a local area network (LAN). An Ethernet port looks much like a regular phone jack, but it is slightly wider. This port can be used to connect your computer to another computer, a local network, or an external DSL or cable modem.

 Parallel Ports:
A parallel port is found at the back of computer. It is used to connect external devices to the computer such as printer, scanner. It is also used for connecting external drives such as Iomega Zip Drive (disk drive similar to Floppy disks) which can be easily removed from one computer and placed onto other computer.

Serial Ports:
A type of port that can be used for serial communication in which only 1 bit is transmitted at a time. A serial port is a general-purpose interface that can be used for almost any type of device, including modems, mice, and printers (although most printers are connected to a parallel port).

 PS/2 Ports:
A type of port which is used for connecting a mouse or keyboard to a computer, therefore it is also referred as keyboard or mouse port. Most computers have a PS/2 port so that the serial port can be used by another device such as modem etc.

USB Ports:
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 Mbps. A single USB port can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices such as modems, mouse, keyboards etc. USB also supports Plug and Play installation and Hot Plugging. It is expected to completely replace serial and parallel ports.

 VGA Ports:
Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector is a three row 15 pin connector. This port is used to plug your monitor and computer together so that the graphics will actually be shown on the monitor. The 15-pin VGA connector is found on many video cards, computer monitors, and some high definition television sets. On laptop computers or other small devices, a mini-VGA port is sometimes used in place of the full-sized VGA connector.

Digital Visual Interface:

DVI stands for Digital Visual Interface. A DVI interface connection can transfer a digital video signal from a source component directly to a video display that also has a DVI connection.

EXPENSION SLOTS:
Expansion slots are specific slots on a PC motherboard that facilitate the placement of expansion cards. All such expansion slots are color coded, and are built in such a way that only a specific type of card or device can interface with/ be inserted into the device. Alternatively an expansion slot can be defined as: An opening in a computer where a circuit board can be inserted to add new capabilities to the computer. Nearly all personal computers except portables contain expansion slots for adding more memory, graphics capabilities, and support for special devices. The boards inserted into the expansion slots are called expansion boards, expansion cards, cards, add-ins, and add-ons. Expansion slots for PCs come in two basic sizes: halfand full-size. Half-size slots are also called 8-bit slots because they can transfer 8 bits at a time. Full-size slots are sometimes called 16-bit slots. In addition, modern PCs include PCI slots for expansion boards that connect directly to the PCI bus. An expansion slot provides a fast link to a computers processor, accommodating cards for enhanced video, a modem, sound

processing or Ethernet. Several types are used, although the PCI and PCMCIA varieties are the most common.

Expansion slots for PCs come in two basic sizes: half- and full-size. Half-size slots are also called 8-bit slots because they can transfer 8 bits at a time. Full-size slots are sometimes called 16-bit slots. In addition, modern PCs include PCI slots for expansion boards that connect directly to the PCI bus.

Full-size slot card

Half-size slot cards

Types of Expansion Slots:

Common types of expansion slots are: 1. Advanced Graphics Port (AGP): Designated slot reserved for graphics cards. It was utilised in a motherboard that would be used in a PC that required high-end graphics processing abilities. 2. AGP Pro: Used for Mac's that require high re-draw capabilities. A good example would be a PC running AutoCAD. Some slots required up to 110W of dedicated power, this would

be delivered using a power supply with its own MOLEX. 3. Peripheral Component Interconnect/ Peripheral Controller Interface (PCI): PCI Operates at either 33 or 66 MHz and 64 bits. This utilizes parallel technology. 4. Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended (PCI-X): This is Latest version of PCI technology operating at 66 MHZ and 64 bits. This also utilizes parallel technology. 5. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe or PCI-E): PCIe Had less channels for data but it was much faster than AGP technology. It was cheaper to design and build. This type of slot was much more expandable. It was also serial technology. 6. PC Card (PCMCIA) PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) PC card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. PC Card was originally designed for computer storage expansion, but later it was designed into many different devices. Typical devices included network cards, modems, and hard disks. The original use, as storage expansion, is no longer common.