GPIB Pinouts & Interconnections

Information and data for IEEE 488 or GPIB pinouts or pin allocations used for GPIB inter-connections.

GPIB / IEEE 488 Bus Includes:
GPIB / IEEE 488 bus GPIB operation / commands / protocol IEEE 488.2 How to Use GPIB / IEEE 488 GPIB / IEEE 488 cables GPIB / IEEE 488 connectors GPIB / IEEE 488 pinout / pin connections

The connections or pinout for the GPIB system is standardised and uses the 24 way Amphenol Type 57 connector.

While some systems have, mainly in the past, used other connectors, the 24 way Amphenol type 57 connector is the one that is by far the most widely used and its connections have been defined as in the table given below.

The GPIB pinout is therefore well standardised and virtually without exception the Amphenol style connector is the one used these days.

GPIB connector pins numbering

The diagram below shows the various pins on the standard 24 way Amphenol type 57 connector in order to identify the different pins for the pinout with their relevant functions.

GPIB / IEEE 488 connector pin numbering / pinout

It is worth noting that the actual pin numbers are written onto the plastic of the connector by the pins themselves. This is always worth checking to make sure orientations are correct and to eliminate errors in interpretation.

GPIB pinout connections

The connections or pinout for the GPIB connector are given in the table below:

GPIB Pinout Table
GPIB Pin No	GPIB Line Name	GPIB Abbreviation
1	Data Input / Output 1	DIO1
2	Data Input / Output 2	DIO2
3	Data Input / Output 3	DIO3
4	Data Input / Output 4	DIO4
5	End or Identify	EOI
6	Data Valid	DAV
7	Not Ready For Data	NRFD
8	Not Data Accepted	NDAC
9	Interface Clear	IFC
10	Service Request	SRQ
11	Attention	ATN
12	Shield (Connected to Earth)
13	Data Input / Output 5	DIO5
14	Data Input / Output 6	DIO6
15	Data Input / Output 7	DIO7
16	Data Input / Output 8	DIO8
17	Remote Enable	REN
18	Twisted pair with pin 6
19	Twisted pair with pin 7
20	Twisted pair with pin 8
21	Twisted pair with pin 9
22	Twisted pair with pin 10
23	Twisted pair with pin 11
24	Signal Ground

It can be seen from the pinout table for the GPIB connections that the DAV, NRFD and NDAC handshaking lines all run with twisted pairs as do IFC, SRQ and ATN.

Again it can be seen from the pinout table that the GPIB connections for the data lines do not have twisted pairs, but are contained within the overall screening of the cable.