The SN75LP196 is a low-power bipolar device containing five drivers and three receivers, with 15 kV of ESD protection on the bus pins with respect to each other. Bus pins are defined as those pins that tie directly to the serial-port connector, including GND. The pinout matches the flow-through design of the industry-standard SN75196 and allows easy interconnection of the UART and serial-port connector of the IBM PC/AT and compatibles. This device provides a rugged, low-cost solution for this function with the combination of bipolar processing and 15-kV ESD protection. The SN75LP196 has internal slew-rate control to provide a maximum rate of change in the output signal of 30 V/s. The driver output swing is clamped nominally at 6 V to enable the higher data rates associated with this device and to reduce EMI emissions. Even though the driver outputs are clamped, they can handle voltages up to 15 V without damage. All the logic inputs can accept 3.3-V or 5-V input signals. The SN75LP196 complies with the requirements of the TIA/EIA-232-F and the ITU v.28 standards. These standards are for data interchange between a host computer and peripheral at signaling rates up to 20 kbit/s. The switching speeds of the SN75LP196 support rates up to 256 kbit/s with lower capacitive loads (shorter cables).