IEEE-488 Tutorial

Brief History
Hewlett Packard designed the original bus in the 1960's. It was later accepted as a standard in 1978 by IEEE/ANSI as IEEE-488. At the time, it was revolutionary, allowing many convenient applications. An IEEE-488 bus can be configured as a physical star, in-line (linear) or a combination of both.

In-Line / Linear Configuration

Physical / Star Configuration

As with many products in the electronics industry, there are a few different names for the same thing. GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus), HPIB (Hewlett Packard Interface Bus), and IEEE-488 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standard 488) are all common names for this system. Despite its many names and early popularity, IEEE-488 eventually gave way to smaller, lighter, cheaper, and faster interfaces.

Today
IEEE-488 interfaces are typically found in high end, expensive instruments as opposed to lower cost equipment that uses RS232 interfaces.

IEEE-488 Connector Specifications The IEEE-488 GPIB connector utilizes 24 contacts in a parallel configuration.

IEEE-488 Cable Construction 24 conductors with twisted pairs Braid Shield with a minimum 85% coverage Centronics style 24 position male to female piggy back connectors allowing for easy daisy chaining Metric mating hardware, M3.5 x 0.6

IEEE-488 Cable Assembly Options
L-com offers three different cable options to best satisfy customer needs and maximize value:

What Can L-com Do For You?
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