16c95x Serial Port Driver Jun 2026

The 16C95X family (most notably the OX16C950, OX16C952, and OX16C954 chips originally developed by Oxford Semiconductor, later acquired by PLX Technology and Broadcom) is a high-performance serial communication controller.

Without auto flow control, the driver would need to toggle RTS in software, which introduces latency and risks FIFO overrun. With auto flow, the driver is free to service interrupts at its own pace.

The driver configures trigger levels:

Select the folder where you extracted the drivers, making sure "Include subfolders" is checked. Click Next to install. 3. Important Notes for Multi-Port Cards 16c95x serial port driver

The FIFO buffer is artificially capped at 16 bytes instead of utilizing the full 128 bytes. Data throughput is capped at lower standard speeds.

struct uart_port *port = dev_id; unsigned int iir = serial_in(port, UART_IIR); if (iir & UART_IIR_NO_INT) return IRQ_NONE;

For decades, the venerable 16550 UART has been the workhorse of serial communication in personal computers. However, as industrial automation, point-of-sale systems, and high-speed data acquisition demanded more, the 16C95x family of UARTs emerged as the superior alternative. This guide provides a comprehensive technical deep-dive into the 16C95x serial port driver, exploring its architecture, key features, cross-platform driver support, performance optimization, and practical troubleshooting. The 16C95X family (most notably the OX16C950, OX16C952,

If you need to force the kernel to recognize the specific 16950 UART characteristics to engage the deep FIFOs, you can use the setserial utility. For example: setserial /dev/ttyS4 uart 16950 port 0xd000 irq 10 Use code with caution.

To help find the exact driver package or configuration parameters you need, please let me know:

Windows will locate the .inf file, install the 16C95X driver, and reassign the device under the section as something similar to "Oxford PCI UART Dedicated Port" . Configuring Advanced Driver Settings The driver configures trigger levels: Select the folder

Solution: In the Advanced Port Settings menu, manually override the assigned COM port number to a vacant slot (e.g., changing from an invisible conflict down to COM3 or COM4). Conclusion

What (and version) are you currently targeting?

A well-tuned 16C95x driver on a 100 MHz ARM Cortex-M can achieve > 2 Mbps with < 5% CPU load, thanks to 128-byte FIFOs and auto flow control. Without auto flow, the same rate might consume 40-50% CPU due to per-byte interrupts.