Special Purpose Communication Devices
Protocol Converters are hardware or software that interconnects two dissimilar computer systems or terminals so they can communicate with each other.
- 1. hardware protocol converter box (e.g., asynchronous terminal communicating with IBM host that uses
Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC)
- 2. add-on circuit boards for microcomputers (e.g., for converting the PC into a 3278 terminal which connects to an IBM host via an 3270 terminal controller)
- 3. software in a host computer
- 4. local area network gateways