General-purpose input/output

General-purpose input/output (GPIO) is a generic pin on an integrated circuit (commonly called a chip) whose behavior (including whether it is an input or output pin) can be controlled (programmed) by the user at run time.

GPIO pins have no special purpose defined, and go unused by default. The idea is that sometimes the system integrator building a full system that uses the chip might find it useful to have a handful of additional digital control lines, and having these available from the chip can save the hassle of having to arrange additional circuitry to provide them.

Source & more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General-purpose_input/output

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