Advantages Of The Ncr Usb Solution - NCR 7158 Owner's Manual

8-2 Chapter 8: Universal Serial Bus

Advantages of the NCR USB Solution

Additional POS devices. Some POS systems are required to host more
peripherals than can be supported by two RS-232 ports typical in a
platform. With the addition of one (or two) USB connectors, the
platform can now support the additional devices that had previously
required a serial port expander card.
Higher bandwidths. New devices coming into use have bandwidth
requirements that are higher than the bandwidth that can be supported
on legacy interfaces. These devices include image scanners and
printers. As the speed and capability of POS printers increases, the
performance of the printer in an application can become limited by the
speed of the communications interface. USB provides ample
bandwidth to support current and future POS printer requirements.
NCR has eliminated any cost associated with porting applications to
USB by implementing a USB solution that simulates standard serial
communications in Windows 95 (OSR2.1), 98, and NT 4.0 (Service Pack
3 or higher). Application developers need only redirect their software
to the virtual serial ports created by the NCR USB solution to use the
printer.