GPIB, aka IEEE-488 and HP-IB

There are so many types of connectors out there that transfer different signals of obscure origins, but its fun to hear a learn about them.  One of them is the GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus) specification that is known officially as the IEEE-488.  It was originally developed by Hewlett Packard to use with automated test equipment, but has branched out into many different uses, mostly industrial.

The signal has been in use for roughly 30 years already.  It wasn’t intended for use with consumer end personal computers, but Commodore (remember those?) adopted the connector to connect peripherals including disk drives.  HP and Tecktronix also eventually adopted the connector for the same purpose in their 8-bit machines.  In the 1980s HP also adopted the interface for use with certain calculators.  Because it utilized a simple parallel electrical bus, it could share the same electrical signal with computers, controllers, industrial equipment, and so forth, making it a natural choice for universal data sending and receiving during the dawn of mass networking.</p><p>

In many industrial and commercial settings the GPIB connector is still very much in use, although modern computers have long since lost the interface.  To universalize the GPIB interface, products such as the usb to GPIB controller have allowed this legacy connector to live on and operate with today’s computers.