PL-2303 Edition 
USB to Serial Bridge Controller  
Product Datasheet 
Document Revision: 1.6 
Document Release: April 26, 2005 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Prolific Technology Inc. 
7F, No. 48, Sec. 3, Nan Kang Rd. 
Nan Kang, Taipei 115, Taiwan, R.O.C. 
Telephone: +886-2-2654-6363 
Fax: +886-2-2654-6161 
E-mail: sales@prolific.com.tw
Website: http://www.prolific.com.tw
 
 
Revised Date: 
April 26, 2005 
ds_pl2303_v16.doc 
 
 
Disclaimer 
All the information in this document is subject to change without prior notice. Prolific Technology Inc. 
does not make any representations or any warranties (implied or otherwise) regarding the accuracy 
and completeness of this document and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other 
commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. 
 
 
Trademarks 
The Prolific logo is a registered trademark of Prolific Technology Inc. All brand names and product 
names used in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. 
 
 
Copyrights 
Copyright © 2005 Prolific Technology Inc. All rights reserved.   
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without the 
express written permission of Prolific Technology Inc.   
 
 
PL-2303 Product Datasheet 
- 2 - 
Document Version 1.6 
 
 
Revision History 
 
Revision 
Description 
1.6 
 Modify Temperature Characteristics (Sec 8.4) 
 Added List of Figures and List of Tables 
 Modify Features section   
 Improve clarity of Pin Assignment diagram   
 Correct Minimum Operating Temperature to 0oC 
 Modify Operating Voltage 
 Add EEPROM Timing Diagram 
 Add Reset Timing Diagram 
 Added Ordering Information 
 Added Reel Packing Information 
 Add Windows CE .NET support feature 
 Buffer for upstream and downstream data flow – change 
from 96 to 256 bytes 
 For Chip Version H (date code 0206) 
 Add OS Support in Features Section 
 Correct default values in Table 5. Device Configuration 
Register 
 Add Suspend Current in DC Characteristics Section 
 Move Operating Temperature in DC Characteristics to new 
section 
1.5 
1.4 
1.3 
1.2 
 
Revised Date: 
April 26, 2005 
ds_pl2303_v16.doc 
 
Date 
April 26, 2005 
February 02, 2005 
August 29, 2002 
August 01, 2002 
July 03, 2002 
PL-2303 Product Datasheet     
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Document Version 1.6 
 
 
Revised Date: 
April 26, 2005 
ds_pl2303_v16.doc 
 
Table of Contents 
 
1.0  FEATURES........................................................................................................6 
2.0 
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................6 
3.0  FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM....................................................................7 
4.0  PIN ASSIGNMENT OUTLINE ...........................................................................8 
5.0  PIN ASSIGNMENT & DESCRIPTION...............................................................9 
6.0    DATA FORMATS & PROGRAMMABLE BAUD RATE GENERATOR............10 
7.0    EXTERNAL EEPROM AND DEVICE CONFIGURATION ............................... 11 
8.0  ELECTRICAL, TEMPERATURE & TIMING CHARACTERISTICS.................13 
8.1  Absolute Maximum Ratings .................................................................................13 
8.2  DC Characteristics...............................................................................................13 
8.3  Clock Characteristics ...........................................................................................13 
8.4  Temperature Characteristics................................................................................14 
8.5  USB Transceiver Characteristics .........................................................................14 
8.6  EEPROM Timing Diagram ...................................................................................14 
8.7  Reset Timing Diagram .........................................................................................15 
9.0  OUTLINE DIAGRAM.......................................................................................16 
9.1  SSOP28 Package................................................................................................16 
10.0  REEL PACKING INFORMATION....................................................................17 
10.1 Carrier Tape (SSOP-28).......................................................................................17 
10.2 Reel Dimension ...................................................................................................18 
11.0  ORDERING INFORMATION ...........................................................................18 
 
PL-2303 Product Datasheet 
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Document Version 1.6 
 
 
Revised Date: 
April 26, 2005 
ds_pl2303_v16.doc 
 
List of Figures 
Figure 3-1 Block Diagram of PL-2303.......................................................................................7 
Figure 4-1 Pin Assignment Outline of PL-2303.........................................................................8 
Figure 8-1 Byte Write Timing Diagram....................................................................................14 
Figure 8-2 Selective Read Timing Diagram ............................................................................15 
Figure 8-3 Reset Timing Diagram ...........................................................................................15 
Figure 9-1 Outline Diagram of PL-2303 SSOP28 ...................................................................16 
Figure 10-1a SSOP28 Carrier Tape........................................................................................17 
Figure 10-1b IC Reel Placements...........................................................................................17 
Figure 10-2 Reel Dimension ...................................................................................................18 
 
 
List of Tables 
Table 5-1 Pin Assignment & Description ...................................................................................9 
Table 6-1 Supported Data Formats.........................................................................................10 
Table 6-2 Baud Rate Setting ...................................................................................................10 
Table 7-1 EEPROM Contents ................................................................................................. 11 
Table 7-2 Device Configuration Register ................................................................................ 11 
Table 8-1 Absolute Maximum Ratings.....................................................................................13 
Table 8-2 DC Characteristics ..................................................................................................13 
Table 8-3 Clock Characteristics ..............................................................................................13 
Table 8-4 Temperature Characteristics ...................................................................................14 
Table 8-5 USB Transceiver Characteristics ............................................................................14 
Table 8-6 Power-On Reset......................................................................................................15 
Table 9-1 Package Dimension ................................................................................................16 
Table 10-2 Reel Part Number Information ..............................................................................18 
Table 11-1 Ordering Information..............................................................................................18 
 
PL-2303 Product Datasheet     
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Document Version 1.6 
 
 
1.0 Features 
Revised Date: 
April 26, 2005 
ds_pl2303_v16.doc 
 
 Fully compliant with USB Specification v1.1 and USB CDC v1.1 
 Supports RS232 Serial interface 
 Supports automatic handshake mode 
 Supports Remote wake-up and power management 
 256-bytes buffer each for upstream and downstream data flow 
 Supports default ROM or external EEPROM for device configuration 
 On-chip USB transceiver 
 On-chip crystal oscillator running at 12MHz   
 Supports Windows 98/SE, ME, 2000, XP, Windows CE3.0, CE .NET, Linux, and Mac OS 
 Designed for Windows XP/2000 Certified Logo Drivers   
 USB-IF Logo Compliant with TID 10240590 
 28-Pin SSOP package 
 
2.0 Introduction 
The PL-2303 operates as a bridge between one USB port and one standard RS232 Serial port. The 
two large on-chip buffers accommodate data flow from two different buses. The USB bulk-type data is 
adopted for maximum data transfer. Automatic handshake is supported at the Serial port. With these, a 
much higher baud rate can be achieved compared to the legacy UART controller. 
 
This device is also compliant with USB power management and remote wakeup scheme. Only 
minimum power is consumed from the host during Suspend. By integrating all the function in a 
SSOP-28 package, this chip is suitable for cable embedding. Users just simply hook the cable into PC 
or hub’s USB port, and then they can connect to any RS-232 devices. 
 
 
PL-2303 Product Datasheet 
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Document Version 1.6 
 
 
3.0 Functional Block Diagram 
 
 
USB Port
 
Revised Date: 
April 26, 2005 
ds_pl2303_v16.doc 
 
USB 
Transceiver
USB   
SIE 
 
Control 
Unit 
DOWN 
STREAM 
BUFFER 
CLOCK 
SYNTHESIZER 
OSCILLATOR 
RS-232 SERIAL 
INTERFACE 
REGISTER/ 
CONFIG/ 
STATUS/ 
CONTROL 
UP 
STREAM 
BUFFER 
EEPROM 
INTERFACE 
Serial Port 
I2C Bus 
Figure 3-1 Block Diagram of PL-2303 
PL-2303 Product Datasheet     
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Document Version 1.6 
 
 
4.0 Pin Assignment Outline 
Revised Date: 
April 26, 2005 
ds_pl2303_v16.doc 
 
 
SSOP 28 PACKAGE
(TOP VIEW)
TXD
DTR_N
RTS_N
VDD_232
RXD
RI_N
GND
VDD
DSR_N
DCD_N
CTS_N
SHTD_N
EE_CLK
EE_DATA
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
OSC2
OSC1
PLL_TEST
GND_PLL
VDD_PLL
LD_MODE
TRI_MODE
GND
VDD
RESET
GND_3V3
VDD_3V3
DM
15
DP
 
Figure 4-1 Pin Assignment Outline of PL-2303 
PL-2303 Product Datasheet 
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Document Version 1.6