We have implemented a serial port encoder that is able to encode a YUV video and transmit the bitstream simultaneously through the serial port to another computer via a serial cable. The computer at the receiving end is able to save the encoded bitstream to a file. The H.263 encoder is encapsulated within a multithreaded serial port communication program written in C++ for the Windows platform. The modes and switches for the H.263 encoder are specified in a dialog box. All output information are ported to a window console for status report.

At the receiving side, the serial port communication program diverts the transmitted bitstream to a file for future decoding.

A comparison between the transmitted bitstream and the received bitstream shows no bit loss, which is expected because of the cable transfer.

The code has been compiled under WinNT using Visual C++ v6.0. The ZIP file contains the source code as well as an executable compiled for speed.

A Lap-link type serial cable is required for connecting two serial ports together.