POSTMAN

Hardware Interface Specifications

Postman IR Receiver Interface Specification

Rev 2.2
12/31/2010

Bose® Corporation
1.0 Overview
This document describes details of the IR protocol compatible with the Bose Postman program.

IR receive capability was designed into Postman to allow the product to be controlled by third-party universal IR
remote controls. This allows customers to be able to integrate Postman into a larger system whose primary control
interface is IR. It is expected that Postman will contact manufacturers of universal IR remotes (UEI, etc.), and
provide them with the protocol details as defined herein.

2.0 Protocol Format (First Production Postman Units)

This (early) version of Postman's IR receiver protocol is loosely based on the industry-standard NEC IR control
format, similar to that used by other Bose IR remote controls (the Bose Wave Radio, for example). This format
transmits a Leader, followed by four (8-bit) bytes, as shown:

This version of the protocol only allowed an IR remote to control Zone 1, Room A. Note that the second byte is
always 4D, hex, which is a dedicated code assigned to the Postman product.
3.0 Protocol Format (Postman Units Built After January, 2002)
Postman's more recent IR receiver protocol is also based on the industry-standard NEC IR control format, but uses
the second byte to convey zone/room information, as shown:

The allowable values for the second byte (zone/room information) are described in Section 6.

4.0 Bit Timing

Leader Code: 9mSec on (carrier) and 4.5mSec off.
"0" bit: 560uSec on, 565 off.
"1" bit: 560 uSec on, 1.690mSec 0ff.

5.0 Message Bytes

As shown above, 4 (8-bit) bytes are received. All bytes are expected to be sent LSB first. The first byte , always
BA(hex), is the Bose Manufacturer Code. The second byte is the Postman Zone/Room code (NOTE: for typical
Zone 1, Room A operation, this byte value would be A8h. B7..B5 are always 100b to reduce interference with
BWR remotes). The third byte is the 8-bit Key Code (Function/Data Code). The last byte is the logical inverse of
the third.
6.0 Table of Compatible Zone/Room Codes
The following table defines the Zone/Room Codes defined for Postman:
Byte Value (in hex) Byte Value (in binary) Zone Being Controlled Room Being Controlled
1 0 0 Z1 Z0 R2 R1 R0
0x4D 01001100 Zone 1 A* (see note below)
0x80 10000000 Undefined: default to Zone 1 A
0x81 10000001 Undefined: default to Zone 1 B
0x82 10000010 Undefined: default to Zone 1 C
0x83 10000011 Undefined: default to Zone 1 D
0x84 10000100 Undefined: default to Zone 1 E
0x85 10000101 Undefined: default to Zone 1 F
0x86 10000110 Undefined: default to Zone 1 G / Analog Output
0x87 10000111 Undefined: default to Zone 1 All Rooms in This Zone
0x88 10001000 Zone 1 A
0x89 10001001 Zone 1 B
0x8A 10001010 Zone 1 C
0x8B 10001011 Zone 1 D
0x8C 10001100 Zone 1 E
0x8D 10001101 Zone 1 F
0x8E 10001110 Zone 1 G / Analog Output
0x8F 10001111 Zone 1 All Rooms in This Zone
0x90 10010000 Zone 2 A
0x91 10010001 Zone 2 B
0x92 10010010 Zone 2 C
0x93 10010011 Zone 2 D
0x94 10010100 Zone 2 E
0x95 10010101 Zone 2 F
0x96 10010110 Zone 2 G / Analog Output
0x97 10010111 Zone 2 All Rooms in This Zone
0x98 10011000 Both Zones A
0x99 10011001 Both Zones B
0x9A 10011010 Both Zones C
0x9B 10011011 Both Zones D
0x9C 10011100 Both Zones E
0x9D 10011101 Both Zones F
0x9E 10011110 Both Zones G / Analog Output
0x9F 10011111 Both Zones All Rooms in This Zone
All Other Values Invalid Invalid

*Although it doesn't technically adhere to the new protocol, note that if a value of 4D, hex, is received in the
second byte (as per the IR protocol used by the first production Postman consoles), the console will still send
the IR command to Zone 1, Room A. This allows IR remotes programmed to control earlier Postman
consoles to be compatible with newer consoles.
7.0 Full Set of Compatible Data Codes
The following table describes the Data Codes defined for use with Postman:

Key Data Code Function Data Press and Echoed-Out in Teaching Responded-To if Received Via
# Code Hold Repeat? Mode (in Bose IR Format)? IR (in Bose IR Format)?
1 On/Off 0x4C No Yes Yes
2 Speakers 2-3-5 0x00 No Yes Yes
3 Surround + 0x0B Yes Yes Yes
4 Surround - 0x0A Yes Yes Yes
5 Mute 0x01 No Yes Yes
6 Mute All 0x4D No Yes Yes
7 TV Source 0x0E No Yes Yes
8 TV Power 0x2C No No No
9 VCR Source 0x0D No Yes Yes
10 VCR Power 0xAC No No No
11 AUX Source 0x0F No Yes Yes
12 AUX Power 0x6C No No No
13 Tape Source 0x52 No Yes Yes
14 CD/DVD Source 0x53 No Yes Yes
15 Changer Source 0xD3 No Yes Yes
16 FM/AM Source 0x06 No Yes Yes
17 DVD Menu 0x90 No Yes Yes
18 EPG ("Guide") 0xD0 No Yes3 Yes3
19 Settings 0x80 No Yes Yes
20 Menu Up Arrow 0xC0 Yes Yes Yes
21 Menu Down Arrow 0x20 Yes Yes Yes
22 Menu Left Arrow 0xA0 Yes Yes Yes
23 Menu Right Arrow 0x60 Yes Yes Yes
24 Menu Select (Enter) 0xE0 No Yes Yes
25 Chan/Preset Up 0x19 Yes Yes1 Yes1
26 Chan/Preset Down 0x18 Yes Yes1 Yes1
27 Volume Up 0x03 Yes Yes Yes
28 Volume Down 0x02 Yes Yes Yes
29 1 0x41 No Yes1 Yes1
30 2 0x42 No Yes1 Yes1
31 3 0x43 No Yes1 Yes1
32 4 0x44 No Yes1 Yes1
33 5 0x45 No Yes1 Yes1
34 6 0x46 No Yes1 Yes1
35 7 0x47 No Yes1 Yes1
36 8 0x48 No Yes1 Yes1
37 9 0x49 No Yes1 Yes1
38 0 0x40 No Yes1 Yes1
39 Stop 0x1A No Yes2 Yes2
40 Pause 0x56 No Yes2 Yes2
41 Play 0x55 No Yes2 Yes2
42 Fast Reverse (<<) 0x57 Yes Yes2 Yes2
43 Fast Forward (>>) 0x58 Yes Yes2 Yes2
44 Shuffle 0x5C No Yes Yes
 45 Repeat 0x9D No Yes Yes
46 Playlist 0x9F No Yes Yes
47 Previous 0x14 No No No
48 Exit (for EPG) 0x30 No Yes4 Yes4
49 TV Input Select 0x3C No No No
50 Film Bass On 0x04 No No Yes
51 Film Bass Off 0x05 No No Yes
52 DRC On 0x07 No No Yes
53 DRC Off 0x0C No No Yes

NOTES:
1
Only true when these keys are NOT controlling the TV tuner.
2
Only true when these keys are NOT controlling the VCR.
3
Only true in DVD mode.
4
Only true in DVD mode, when the Bose OSD is up.

8.0 Key Codes Published with UEI

Bose will send the full set of compatible data codes to UEI, to be included into their database. In this way, other
manufacturers' universal remote control products manufactured in the future will be able to control Postman. In
UEI's case, control messages will always have Byte 2 set to 0x88, for controlling Zone 1, Room A only.