On Sun, 9 Feb 2025, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
I was about to
ask if anyone ever built a "Parallel Modem" - but I searched
around first, and lo and behold, Microcom did ! (v.fast / v.34 era, c.
1996)
I don't know what "parallel modem" would mean. Can you explain?
In the simplest case I can certainly envisage delegating the input and
output shift registers to an integrated external modem unit talking some
kind of protocol (which could be Hayes even at the software level) to the
host computer over a parallel port, just as printers used to, some even
offering the choice between a parallel and a serial connection.
A UART could then be integrated within the external unit, or skipped
altogether, just as it used to be the case with "winmodems" where all the
modulation/demodulation stuff was done directly by the host CPU and sent
or received to or from the modem chipset just for DCA/ADC conversion, such
as with sound cards (the MC'97 codec standard was developed exactly for
this purpose, complementing AC'97 for audio devices).
Maciej