This section summarizes PC 98 requirements for serial and parallel ports.
1. System includes connection for external serial devices
Consumer PC 98
Office PC 98
Entertainment PC 98
Required
Required
Required
Recommended: USB or PC Card.
This capability can also be provided as a 16550A serial port or as equivalent I/O capabilities in the system. If a legacy serial port is implemented in a PC 98 system, it must meet the requirements defined in this chapter. If two legacy serial ports are implemented, additional requirements are defined.
For Net PC systems and Office PC 98 systems, remote management capabilities must be implemented as defined in Network PC System Design Guidelines, attached as Appendix E in the References part of this guide.
2. System includes connection for external parallel devices
Consumer PC 98
Office PC 98
Entertainment PC 98
Required
Required
Required
Recommended: USB, IEEE 1394, or PC Card.
This connection can also be provided as a parallel port with ECP-mode capabilities. If a legacy port is implemented in a PC 98 system, it must meet the requirements defined in this chapter.
For an Office PC 98 system or a Net PC system, if a parallel port is present, it must be implemented as an ECP-mode parallel port, and remote management capabilities must be implemented as defined in Network PC System Design Guidelines. On a RISC-based system, the keyboard must work as the input device using the Advanced RISC computing (ARC) interfaces.
3. System includes external connection for keyboard
Consumer PC 98
Office PC 98
Entertainment PC 98
Required
Required
Required
Recommended: USB.
Although USB is the preferred solution, this connection can also be implemented as a PS/2-style port or by using wireless capabilities in the system.
Note: For a mobile PC, the required USB port can be used to support the requirement for an external pointing device and keyboard connections. However, two PS/2-style ports can be implemented for the pointing device and keyboard, or a single PS/2-style port can be provided for both the pointing device and the keyboard. If a single PS/2-style port is used, the design must include two separate clocks and two separate data lines, and a special cable must be provided that allows both the external keyboard and pointing device to use the single port.
4. System includes external connection for pointing device
Consumer PC 98
Office PC 98
Entertainment PC 98
Required
Required
Required
Recommended: USB or wireless.
Although USB is the preferred solution, this connection can also be implemented using a PS/2-style port.
See the “System includes external connection for keyboard” requirement earlier in this section for issues related to mobile PCs.
5. System includes USB game pad or joystick
Consumer PC 98
Office PC 98
Entertainment PC 98
Recommended
Recommended
Recommended; wireless
This device must support the USB Human Interface Device Class Specification, Version 1.0 or higher. For more information about requirements for USB peripherals, see the “USB” chapter in Part 3 of this guide.
Important: No devices that use legacy or proprietary ports can be included in a PC 98 system.
6. System includes built-in wireless capabilities
Consumer PC 98
Office PC 98
Entertainment PC 98
Recommended
Recommended
Recommended
Wireless capabilities can be provided as built-in capabilities in the system or by using PC Card, IEEE 1394, or USB. If wireless capabilities are included in the system, PC 98 requirements must be met as defined in the “Wireless Component Requirements” section later in this chapter.
7. Devices use USB or external bus connections rather than legacy serial or parallel ports
Consumer PC 98
Office PC 98
Entertainment PC 98
Required
Recommended
Required
This will become a requirement for all system types in future versions of these guidelines.
Although legacy LPT and COM ports can be provided on a PC 98 system, no devices except printers should be provided with a system that uses these ports. For PC 98, a legacy serial port cannot be used as the connection for the mouse or modem.
8. All devices meet PC 98 general device requirements
Consumer PC 98
Office PC 98
Entertainment PC 98
Required
Required
Required
These include the requirements for a device ID, automated software-only settings for device configuration, device drivers and Windows-based installation, and icons for external connectors. For more information, see the “Basic PC 98” chapter in Part 2 of this guide.