Devices are connected together using ports and connectors to transfer information. Information can generally be transmitted in parallel and serial formats, or even in a hybrid of both.

Parallel interfaces transfer data through multiple channels simultaneously to send all information at once. Serial interfaces transfer all information through a single channel to the receiver. Due to design fundamentals and scalability, serial interfaces are generally the faster of both choices nowadays.

Title

I should make a distinction between terms here:
- Port: Virtual Interfaces (Logical Layer)
- Female Connector: Physical Port (Physical Layer)
- Male Connector: Physical Connector (Physical Layer)
- Electrical Interface: Voltage Levels (Physical Layer)

Design Terminology

Pitch - Center-to-center distance between two pins or terminals

Parallel Ports

PATA
DB-25 (Legacy Printers) (D and B stand for size)
VGA

Serial Ports

SATA
DE-9 (Electrical Interface: RS-232) (D and E stand for size)
RJ45 (Electrical Interface: RS-232) / Console Cable / Rollover Cable (Ethernet is not RS-232 at the electrical level)
- It's a null-modem (not needing modem; i.e. used to connect two Data Terminal Equipments (DTEs) directly) cable used to connect a computer's terminal to another device's console port
- Typically blue in colour
- Usually RJ45 to DE-9, but adapters can be used to connect to other physical ports
- It reverses pinouts from one end to another, and hence is called a rollover cable
- Any two RS-232 devices can be connected using a rollover cable paired with connectors
  - Because we connect TX to RX on each DTE
  - RS-232 normally expects a DTE to be connected to a DCE (Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment), not two DTEs directly
Universal Serial Bus
MIPI CSI
MIPI DSI

Terminiology

Physical

Port
Socket
Connector
Plug
Jack
Header (aka Pin Headers / DuPont Connectors / Berg Connectors)

Logical

Port
Socket

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