Design of a controller for a universal input/output port

Desktop computers, modern and old, all have a large number of different input/output (I/O) ports. Typically these include (but are not limited to) two PS/2 connectors for a mouse and keyboard, two or more universal serial bus (USB) ports, a parallel (LPT) port, a serial (RS-232/COM) port, a network (Ethernet) port and a VGA (video graphics array) port. Each type of port requires a different physical connector and has a specific protocol permanently assigned to it for communication with the peripheral device that will be attached to it. First-time computer users are often daunted by the task of connecting peripherals to their systems, as the large number of different connectors can be confusing to newcomers. The problem addressed by this project was to design an I/O controller with a number of identical “universal” ports, with each port capable of supporting at least three non-similar protocols/standards (specifically PS/2, USB and VGA).