Here is an old (1995) favorite serial port hardware reference http{delete this space}://{delete this space}www.{delete this space}sytekcom.com/eng/SerialPort-hardware.{delete this space}html. Most all of the UART register set, and more, is accessible using POSIX termios functions. I have looked hard at Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and other popular microcontroller boards. Nothing I found compares to the plus and minus 12 volt RS232 line drivers. Nothing I found compares to the interrupt handling of many, many UART events. Also interesting is how Linux can now use new shared high interrupts with PCI UARTs. I don't know how industry will grow without automation. And I don't know how automation can grow without Linux and the serial port. I hope somebody copies and saves the above web document.