ATEasy uses the standard Windows communications driver, Comm.drv, for serial communication. The Windows Comm driver supports up to the standard 4 COM ports and, when enabled, receives characters through an interrupt handler that resides in the Comm driver. The characters are received into Windows’ internal buffer in the background. They are then emptied by the ATEasy program or driver using the I/O Table or the COM functions.
The standard Windows Comm driver can be replaced by other serial communication boards, such as RS-433/485, or by drivers that support more than 4 COM ports. (ATEasy supports up to 9 ports.) These drivers are usually compatible with the Windows standard Comm driver and ATEasy applications can use them seamlessly.