Serial protocol

A serial protocol is a protocol that sends data in one stream (through one line/media channel). There can be other streams/lines for control data. This in contrast to a parallel protocol, which sends the data in multiple streams. The main advantage a serial protocol has over a parallel one is simplicity (which makes it cheaper), less interference between media channels (which allows longer cables) and a higher possible data rate for one stream.

Examples of serial protocols are:
 * MIDI
 * RS-232
 * SATA
 * SAS
 * USB

An UART chip does parallel to serial data conversion.