PCIe-COM-8SM Multiprotocol Serial Card
Features
- Eight or four-port PCI Express serial communication cards
- Serial protocol (RS-232/422/485) SOFTWARE CONFIGURED per port, stored in EEPROM for auto-configure at next boot
- Low profile PCIe MD2 form factor, works in standard height or low-profile PCIe computers
- High performance 16C950 class UARTs with 128-byte FIFO for each TX and RX
- Supports data communication speeds up to 3Mbps (standard model RS-232 is 460.8kbps)
- ±15kV ESD protection on all signal pins
- Full modem control signals in RS-232 mode
- Software compatible with all operating systems
- Jumper selectable termination per port for RS-485 applications
- 3′ breakout cable included, terminating with industry-standard DB9M connectors (no external breakout box required)
- Designed, made, supported, and manufactured in the USA
FACTORY OPTIONS
- Also available in RS-485 and RS-422 only versions
- Connector strengthening bracket for secure and fail-proof cable connections
- Extended temperature operation (-40°C to +85°C)
- High-speed RS-232 version up to 921.6kbps
- RoHS compliant version
- Support for Wind River VxWorks (call for ordering information)
- Remote wake-up enable
- Low profile bracket installed for small, embedded PCs
Price range: $314.00 through $599.00
In StockDescription
PCI Express Multi-Port Multi-Protocol Low Profile Serial Communication Cards
ACCES I/O’s PCI Express multi-port multi-protocol serial communication cards deliver eight (PCIe-COM-8SM) or four (PCIe-COM-4SM), high-speed serial communication ports for use in a wide variety of applications. The cards were designed to offer serial compatibility with the PCI Express bus and to be used by system integrators and manufacturers in the design of industrial and commercial systems. Each COM port is capable of supporting data rates up to 3Mbps and implements full modem control signals in RS-232 mode to ensure compatibility with a broad variety of serial devices. The card features a x1 lane PCI Express connector which can be used in any available x1, x2, x4, x8, x12, or x16 PCI Express expansion slot.
The card is 6.6 inches in length and 2.2 inches seated height and complies with the MD2 Low Profile Form Factor specifications. Low profile PCI Express allows the design of small footprint, low profile systems while still offering expandability and upgradeability to the end user. A regular profile mounting bracket is installed for use in standard size computers, while an optional low profile bracket is provided for smaller systems which require the use of low profile PCI Express cards.
Typical serial peripherals can connect directly to the industry standard DB9M connectors on an optional breakout cable (see Ordering Guide). For DB9 pin-compatibility with legacy RS-485 systems that use our LPCI and PCI-COM485-8 cards and breakout cables, order the “NC” card model and breakout cable CAB-PCIe-485-8 (see DB9M RS-485 Pin Table)
SPECIAL ORDER
Custom baud rates are available upon request. Please contact ACCES with your precise requirement. Other examples of special orders would be conformal coating, custom software, RJ45 connectivity, longer breakout cables, etc., we will work with you to provide exactly what is required.
SOFTWARE
A complete driver support package is provided including an easy-to-use Windows terminal program for testing out your COM ports. This simplifies the verification of proper COM port operation. The card installs as standard COM ports in all operating systems including DOS, Linux (including Mac OS X) and Windows XP -> 10, both 32 & 64 bit.
Modified-COTS (MCOTS) Customization
ACCES can tailor any standard product to your precise requirements — electrical, mechanical, firmware, environmental, or connector-level. Common MCOTS options include alternate I/O ranges, isolation enhancements, firmware changes, private labeling, conformal coating, extended temperature operation, ruggedized enclosures, and military-grade components. If this product is close but not a perfect fit, our engineering team can deliver a rapid-turn MCOTS variant with minimal NRE and dependable, Made-in-USA quality.
Downloads
Data Sheets
Manuals
Software
- PCIe-COM-8SM Software Package ( -- Last Uploaded 2025-05-07)
Drivers and Downloads
Full list of available Downloads: Software Packages, Drivers, Manuals, and other documents
Information about our Free Software packages:
ACCES is proud to provide a full suite of software support with every Data Acquisition product. We are committed to supporting the most popular operating systems and platforms for our customers. Currently we are actively supporting 7 -> 11, both 32 & 64 bit, including “Server 2008,” “Embedded,” and “Compact” flavors for all plug-and-play products including PCI, PCI Express, USB, and more. Many products continue to ship with support for additional operating systems such as DOS, Windows 95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000, and XP.
Samples
Among the software we deliver with our products are sample programs in a wide variety of programming languages. These samples are used to demonstrate the software interfaces to our products — and many can be used as-is in your production environments, or to test functionality of the devices out-of-the-box. We’re currently actively supporting sample programs in Microsoft Visual C#, and Delphi, with many devices including samples in Visual Basic (5 and .NET), Visual C/C++, and Borland C/C++ 3.1 for DOS. Additionally we provide National Instruments LabVIEW compatible DLLs and many demonstration VIs for our devices.
Drivers
Drivers for various operating systems are also provided, including active support for Windows 7 -> 11 — all in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, and including consumer, server, and embedded varieties — as well as the 2.6 and newer Linux kernels and recent OSX / macOS versions. Many products continue to ship with driver support for Windows 95, 98, Me, NT4, Windows 2000, XP, and more, but support for these operating systems is considered deprecated.
Setup Programs and Utilities
Our Data Acquisition devices also include a graphical setup utility that walks you through the process of configuring any option jumpers or switches on the device, as well as explaining a little about the various connectors present.
Many devices also include utility programs – little tools to make your use of the device easier, such as EWriter, a program that allows you to read and write data in the user-accessible EEPROM locations on all our USB data acquisition products; or WinRISC, a “Really Incredibly Simple Communications” terminal program that lets you get started instantly with serial devices.
“Register Level” Documentation
Besides all this software in all these languages and operating systems ACCES has a policy of open and transparent development: none of our lowest-level “register” interfaces are hidden from you — we document every register in every bus card, every command in every serial board, and every usb control transfer in every USB Data Acquisition board. These lowest-level interfaces allow you to develop for our products in ANY operating system or language, regardless of our actively supporting it or having a driver for it. We have customers actively developing in ADA, Android, Python, Java, MATLAB, Solaris, and more, just by referring to our complete low-level interface documentation! And we provide the full source code to all of our drivers, regardless of operating system, to give you an even bigger head start in your own development tasks.
No Fees or Royalties
All of this software is provided at no additional charge, and is licensed under any of a variety of flexible — and royalty free — options. Check out our software license explanation if you’d like more information.
Custom Software
ACCES also offers Custom Software Services for our products. Our prices are unbelievably low, often as inexpensive as free! If you need something tweaked to support your needs, or an entire enterprise application developed from scratch, it is definitely worth your time to inquire with us, first.
Further information about available ACCES Software:
Redistributing Windows Drivers
A list of ACCES drivers and the files that compose them under different versions of Windows, so you can easily redistribute ACCES cards and drivers.
AIOSerial/VxWorks
ACCES has successfully partnered with Wind River to bring our entire line of PCI and PCI Express Serial Communication cards to VxWorks 7! All ACCES plug-and-play serial cards are now supported with our VxWorks driver, including RS232, RS422, RS485 (2- and 4-wire) and baud rates up to 10Mbps.
Designed as an update to the existing vxbPciNs16550Sio.c driver, we’ve added support for ×8 baud rates, proper handling of the unique register location of the 4th port in the Pericom PI7C9X7954 UART, and configuring the serial protocol from your application software.
With this driver suite all ACCES PCI, PCI Express, PCI Express Mini Card, M.2, PCI-104, PCIe/104, and all related “PCI Style” plug-and-play serial cards will detect and install as standard VxWorks SIO ports.
Asynchronous Communications Interface
- I/O connection: VHDCI 68 pin SCSI connector
- Serial ports: 8 RS-232/422/485
- Serial data rates: RS-232 460.8k (921.6 avail), RS-422/485 3M baud
- UART: Octal type 16C950 with 128-byte transmit & receive FIFO, 16C550 compliant
- ESD Protection: ±15kV on all signal pins
- Character length: 5, 6, 7, or 8 bits
- Parity: Even, Odd, None, Space, Mark
- Stop interval: 1, 1.5, or 2 bits
- Flow Control: RTS/CTS and/or DSR/DTR, Xon/Xoff
- Cable: 3′ shielded breakout cable terminated with 8 male D-sub 9-pin connectors
Environmental
- Operating temperature: Commercial: 0°C to +70°C
. Industrial: -40°C to +85°C - Storage temperature: -65°C to +150°C
- Humidity: 5% to 95%, non-condensing
- Power required: +3.3VDC @ 0.9W (typical)
- Dimensions: 6.6 inches long x 2.20 inches high, (167.64 mm long x 55.8 mm high)
| Model | Description | Price (USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCIe-COM485-8 | Eight Port RS-485 Low Profile Serial Card with DB9M Connectors | $525.00 | |
| PCIe-COM485-8NC | Eight Port RS-485 Low Profile Serial Card with a 68 Pin SCSI Connector | $495.00 | |
| PCIe-COM485-4 | Four Port RS-485 Low Profile Serial Card with DB9M Connectors | $344.00 | |
| PCIe-COM485-4NC | Four Port RS-485 Low Profile Serial Card with a 68 Pin SCSI Connector | $314.00 | |
| PCIe-COM422-4NC | Four Port RS-422 Low Profile Serial Card with a 68 Pin SCSI Connector | $314.00 | |
| PCIe-COM422-4 | Four Port RS-422 Low Profile Serial Card with DB9M Connectors | $344.00 | |
| PCIe-COM422-8 | Eight Port RS-422 Low Profile Serial Card with DB9M Connectors | $525.00 | |
| PCIe-COM422-8NC | Eight Port RS-422 Low Profile Serial Card with a 68 Pin SCSI Connector | $495.00 | |
| PCIe-COM-8SMNC | Eight Port RS-232/422/485 Low Profile Serial Card with a 68 Pin SCSI Connector | $569.00 | |
| PCIe-COM-4SM | Four Port RS-232/422/485 Low Profile Serial Card with DB9M Connectors | $399.00 | |
| PCIe-COM-4SMNC | Four Port RS-232/422/485 Low Profile Serial Card with a 68 Pin SCSI Connector | $369.00 | |
| PCIe-COM-8SM | Eight Port RS-232/422/485 Low Profile Serial Card with DB9M Connectors | $599.00 |
| Accessories | |
|---|---|
| BRKT-551-SCB | Connector stabilizer bracket (for use with standard height PCIe bracket only) $19 |
| ADAP9 | Screw terminal adaptor (single DB9 female to 9 screw terminals) |
| ADAP9-2 | Screw terminal adaptor (dual DB9 female to 18 screw terminals) |
| CAB-PCIe-485-8 | Cable with legacy RS-485 pinout $30 if purchased with a board, $75 if purchased separately |
| LF-CAB-LCOM-8SM | Standard cable for the NC product versions $30 if purchased with a board, $75 if purchased separately |
| Model Options: | |
| -F | Fast version (RS-232 up to 921.6kbps) |
| -T | Extended Temperature Operation (-40° to +85°C) |
| -RoHS | RoHS compliant version |
| -W | Remote wake-up enable |
| -L | Low profile bracket installed |