The HP-HIL (''Hewlett-Packard Human Interface Link'') is the name of a
computer bus used by
Hewlett-Packard to connect keyboards, mice, trackballs, digitizers, tablets, barcode readers, rotary knobs, touchscreens, and other human interface peripherals to their
HP 9000
HP 9000 is a line of workstation and server computer systems produced by the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Company. The native operating system for almost all HP 9000 systems is HP-UX, which is based on UNIX System V.
The HP 9000 brand was introduced ...
workstations. The bus was in use until the mid-1990s, when HP substituted
PS/2 technology for HIL. The PS/2 peripherals were themselves replaced with
USB
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...
-connected models.
The HIL bus is a
daisy-chain of up to 7 devices, running at a raw clock speed of 8 MHz. Each HIL device typically has an output connector, and an input connector to which the next device in the chain plugs; the exception is the mouse which has only the output connector.
HIL buses can be found on HP
PA-RISC
PA-RISC is an instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Hewlett-Packard. As the name implies, it is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture, where the PA stands for Precision Architecture. The design is also referred to as ...
and
m68k
The Motorola 68000 series (also known as 680x0, m68000, m68k, or 68k) is a family of 32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and workstations and w ...
based machines, some early
HP Vectra computers, as well as in some HP/Agilent
Logic Analyzers
A logic analyzer is an electronic instrument that captures and displays multiple signals from a digital system or digital circuit. A logic analyzer may convert the captured data into timing diagrams, protocol decodes, state machine traces, ass ...
.
HP-UX,
OpenBSD,
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...
and
NetBSD include drivers for the HIL bus and HIL devices.
The HP-HIL bus uses specific 4-pin, 6-pin, or 8-pin
SDL connectors, somewhat similar to the
8P8C 8-pin
modular connector
A modular connector is a type of electrical connector for cords and cables of electronic devices and appliances, such as in computer networking, telecommunication equipment, and audio headsets.
Modular connectors were originally developed fo ...
commonly (though incorrectly) called the
RJ-45
A registered jack (RJ) is a standardized telecommunication network interface for connecting voice and data equipment to a service provided by a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier. Registration interfaces were first defined in t ...
. The bus can reportedly also use a 9-pin
D-subminiature
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems.
Description, no ...
DE-9 connector.
A HIL to PS/2 converter is available, namely the HP A4220-62001.
Specification
HP-HIL Technical Reference Manual HP P/N 45918A
External links
*
*
*
HP HIL Linux driver suiteVectra RS/20 with HIL
Serial buses
Hewlett-Packard products
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