I'm helping out with a project for an embedded device that only has USB and no serial. This device is running Linux.
These days, when we need to connect to a serial port on a device we typically use a USB to serial adapter (on something like a phone system or a load balancing device, etc). I would like to know if it is possible to have the host device behave as though it were a serial adapter, thus removing the need for one. Given the nature of USB, is this approach even necessary?
To recap, I would like to be able to connect a single A-to-A USB cable from my workstation (be it windows or linux) to this device, for the purpose of administration (especially initial setup), using minicom, putty or hyperterminal.
The problems with this approach would be:
- Getting linux to wait for and recognize a serial adapter being hotplugged, and then invoking getty to listen on that port (this should be easy enough to solve)
- Balancing the cost and quality when selecting these parts, or possibly having a single product manufactured. Maybe there already is something like this available for purchase?