<s>
In	O
computer	O
engineering	O
and	O
electrical	O
engineering	O
,	O
bit	B-Algorithm
banging	I-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
"	O
term	O
of	O
art	O
"	O
for	O
any	O
method	O
of	O
data	O
transmission	O
that	O
employs	O
software	O
as	O
a	O
substitute	O
for	O
dedicated	O
hardware	O
to	O
generate	O
transmitted	O
signals	O
or	O
process	O
received	O
signals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
directly	O
sets	O
and	O
samples	B-Algorithm
the	O
states	O
of	O
GPIOs	B-Architecture
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
pins	O
on	O
a	O
microcontroller	B-Architecture
)	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
responsible	O
for	O
meeting	O
all	O
timing	O
requirements	O
and	O
protocol	O
sequencing	O
of	O
the	O
signals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
bit	B-Algorithm
banging	I-Algorithm
,	O
dedicated	O
hardware	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
UART	O
,	O
SPI	B-Architecture
,	O
I²C	O
)	O
satisfies	O
these	O
requirements	O
and	O
,	O
if	O
necessary	O
,	O
provides	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
buffer	I-General_Concept
to	O
relax	O
software	O
timing	O
requirements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bit	B-Algorithm
banging	I-Algorithm
can	O
be	O
implemented	O
at	O
very	O
low	O
cost	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
in	O
some	O
embedded	B-Architecture
systems	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bit	B-Algorithm
banging	I-Algorithm
allows	O
a	O
device	O
to	O
implement	O
different	O
protocols	O
with	O
minimal	O
or	O
no	O
hardware	O
changes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
cases	O
,	O
bit	B-Algorithm
banging	I-Algorithm
is	O
made	O
feasible	O
by	O
newer	O
,	O
faster	O
processors	O
because	O
more	O
recent	O
hardware	O
operates	O
much	O
more	O
quickly	O
than	O
hardware	O
did	O
when	O
standard	O
communications	O
protocols	O
were	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
C	B-Language
language	I-Language
code	O
example	O
transmits	O
a	O
byte	O
of	O
data	O
on	O
an	O
SPI	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
question	O
whether	O
to	O
deploy	O
bit	B-Algorithm
banging	I-Algorithm
or	O
not	O
is	O
a	O
trade-off	O
between	O
load	O
,	O
performance	O
and	O
reliability	O
on	O
one	O
hand	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
availability	O
of	O
a	O
hardware	O
alternative	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
microcontroller	B-Architecture
spends	O
much	O
of	O
its	O
time	O
sending	O
or	O
receiving	O
samples	B-Algorithm
to	O
and	O
from	O
the	O
pins	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
expense	O
of	O
other	O
tasks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
signal	O
produced	O
usually	O
has	O
more	O
jitter	O
or	O
glitches	B-Error_Name
,	O
especially	O
if	O
the	O
processor	O
is	O
also	O
executing	O
other	O
tasks	O
while	O
communicating	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
bit-banging	B-Algorithm
software	O
is	O
interrupt-driven	O
by	O
the	O
signal	O
,	O
this	O
may	O
be	O
of	O
minor	O
importance	O
,	O
especially	O
if	O
control	O
signals	O
such	O
as	O
RTS	O
,	O
CTS	O
,	O
or	O
DCD	O
are	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
implementation	O
in	O
software	O
can	O
be	O
a	O
solution	O
when	O
specific	O
hardware	O
support	O
is	O
not	O
available	O
or	O
requires	O
a	O
more	O
expensive	O
microcontroller	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
