The TL16C552 is an enhanced dual channel version of the popular TL16C550 asynchronous communications element (ACE). The device serves two serial input/output interfaces simultaneously in microcomputer or microprocessor-based systems. Each channel performs serial-to-parallel conversion on data characters received from peripheral devices or modems and parallel-to-serial conversion on data characters transmitted by the CPU. The complete status of each channel of the dual ACE can be read at any time during functional operation by the CPU. The information obtained includes the type and condition of the transfer operations being performed and the error conditions.

In addition to its dual communications interface capabilities, the TL16C552 provides the user with a fully bidirectional parallel data port that fully supports the parallel Centronics-type printer.