This is just a general question. I know, obviously, that there are RS-232 "serial ports" and IEEE 1284/Centronix ports "parallel ports," and that these are "digital" connections. Then you have things ...
A flurry of new embedded interface devices from SMSC covers a range of connectivity interfaces, from the LAN9118 10/100 Non-PCI Ethernet Controller to the serial/parallel interface SIO 1000 Controller ...