Infrared (IR) Communication

Light Spectrum
Microwaves Radio (RF) Visible Infrared (IR) X-Rays Ultraviolet Gamma Rays

Freq. (Hz)

109

1012
FCC

1014 1015

1017

1020

Implementation costs rise significantly around 1-10 GHz. (But one important exception is IR at around 500 THz ; very inexpensive.) Signals above 100 GHz cannot penetrate walls Most signals below 300 GHz are regulated by the FCC

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Introduction

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How do you Transmit with IR

No conductor
Signal spreads from origin Signal strength decreases with distance

Cant use amplitude

Too much noise from other IR sources (lights, people, etc.)

Cant use sign (no +/-)

Solution: Modulation
Send pulses of light to represent binary information

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Introduction

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Modulation Schemes

SIR - Serial Infrared

2400bps to 115,200bps SIR modem is simple and low-cost

SDLC-based MIR
576Kbps and 1.152Mbps guarantees a minimal occurrence rate of light pulses

FIR - Fast Infrared

4Mbps power usage constant (always the same)

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Introduction

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SIR - Serial Infrared Modulation

1.6us (or 3/16 bit interval) pulse of light for each 0 in a standard asynchronous data stream
Inverse of serial RS-232 where signal is held high, then pulled down for zeros

Stream consists of a start bit, N data bits, and 1 stop bit (serial packet)

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Introduction

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SDLC-based MIR

A data stream 0 is coded for by the presence of an optical pulse 1/4 of the bit interval in duration (217ns for 1.152Mbps) The SDLC protocol, with its zero-insertion bitstuffing approach, guarantees a minimal occurrence rate of zeroes (and therefore light pulses) in the data stream This also ensures synchronization between a transmitter and receiver can be maintained throughout a packet
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CSE 477 Winter 1999

FIR - Fast Infrared

More Ethernet-like in its framing

a packet is made up of a preamble, start of frame delimiter (SFD) and a data payload.

Utilizes 1:4 Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)

each pair of bits in the data stream are represented by a pulse of light emitted in one of 4 available slot positions which comprise a 4PPM symbol

PPM always requires a pulse for each slot, so power usage is independent of the data

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Introduction

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IR Communication Protocols

To use IR hardware easily, we build up layers of protocol that get us farther away from the implementation each step. Common Protocols:
Serial IR IrDA

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Introduction

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Differences between Waves and Wire

Distance/$$$
Wave transmissions are much more expensive than wire

Speed
Wire is a very simple and highly controllable medium which allows for much higher transfer rates

Limitations
IR:
Line of Sight - IR can not travel through opaque objects, so transceivers must be able to see each other. For many commercial products they must be within 15 of each other. Signal Power - even though we can not see IR, making the signal too strong can easily blind us

RF:
FCC Regulation Interference with objects and other RF waves
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