Higher Computing
Interface
Buffering
Buffering involves holding data temporarily while its is in transit between the processor and the peripheral
Data Format Conversion
Data format conversion involves changing the data received from the peripheral into a form that the processor can understand and vice versa
Data Transmission
The passing of data from one device to another
This may be between parts of a computer system or between computers in a network
Serial Data Transmission
Serial data transmission sends the bits for each character in the data one after another along the same data line.
Parallel Data Transmisson
Parallel data transmission sends each bit which makes up a character simultaneously along a separate data line.

Analogue to Digital Conversion
A key job of interfaces is to convert the analogue signals that are sent in from peripherals to the digital form that the CPU can handle
Voltage Conversion
Peripherals mainly work at higher voltage levels than the CPU. These signals needs to be reduced to the CPU.s level and this is one of the jobs of the interface.
Handling Of Status Signals
The purpose of status information is to show whether or not a peripheral device is ready to communicate, that is, receive or to send data.